october morning on the marsh
a poem for Vocal's Frosted Verse challenge
a picket of milkweeds
bare-knuckled and gray
standing sentry over the marsh
have gone to seed overnight
warty pods curled open,
split by frost's claw
each now a plundered purse
brittle and
proud
watching the wind
keep the monarchs' bargain
to scatter their bounty
in silkfloss parachutes
across the still water
.
there the white seeds go
feathers twirling in the liminal fog
like a drift of stars
ballerinas off to
winter underground,
assemble food for caterpillars
.
don’t we have ways and ways
of cocooning?
.
i let my coat loosen
air nips my skin
i ache to curl open
surrender luminous warmth
to the rime-veiled ground
scatter all my winged gifts
to this crisp sky
that i too might feed
this starving world
About the Creator
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Creative use of language & vocab
The Ritual of Winter Challenge Winners
Welcome to the Winners Announcement for The Ritual of Winter challenge. This prompt focused on winter rituals and the meaning that settles into them over time. The top pieces stay grounded in ordinary acts and repeated routines, letting winter shape the work through pace, attention, and restraint.
By Vocal Curation Team4 days ago in Resources
Comments (14)
I let my coat loosen, air nips at my skin. Nicely Done!!
Your poem contains so much vivid and intense description - and those ending lines pack such a punch. "That i too might feed / this starving world." Simply beautiful. Congrats!
Congratulations on Runner Up - Well Deserved!!
Wow, Morgana, this is breathtaking. Congratulations! You transported me to childhood and my love of milkweed on our acres of land.
Congratulations on placing in the challenge, Morgana! Richly deserved!
Congratulations! I love your turn of phrase: “plundered purse” & “to scatter their bounty in silkfloss parachutes across the still water”✅
Wow, this is beautiful and I love the choice of subject. Congrats!
Wooohooooo congratulations on your win! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Congratulations Morgana! I feel like going out to the marsh now.
I managed to escape from the druthers with you here: beautifully woven
Flowy and romantic
Gosh, this is so good, Morgana! I think you win. I bow. 🥹
When I first saw this I thought - ooooh Morgana has done a normal-ish formatted entry. Then I read the fucking thing. Lol. With all due respect, can I please like steal your wonderful brain and get super poet-rich off it? Or at least dine on the creative genius that it produces? This is just such a great entry and I hate always referring to other commenters, but John's right, about there being too many wonderful lines to mention. You always have a wonderful way of linking the abstract, the metaphorical and the deep feelings. Loved this and its yet another fantastic entry! Stellar Work, Miss!
Too many wonderful lines to mention, Morgana, although ‘feathers twirling in liminal fog like a drift of stars,’ merits special mention. Especially loved the milkweed pod as a metaphor, your final stanza’s fairly ached with feeling! Awesome entry to the challenge!