November Poem

Bob, , , , 
The sky is orange and sad and the leaves are blue.
What’s a comet to do? On one strange leg, wearing 
A tiara of ice.

A vagabond sweater left on the lonesome train.
In the rain, the faux pearls feel at home.

Remember the espionage of daisies
And the rattling of apple blossoms,
The paragraphs of dandelions 
And the heretic crocuses. All of them, like the peaks
Of mountains in a bleak novel.

The surface of the moon is conscious.
I open the window to let in the smell of the cold rain.
The room is dark, the streetlights are discussing Moby Dick.

44 thoughts on “November Poem”

    1. Thanks, Rajani. I guess if you are a novelist, you can go back and say these are the kinds of characters I was drawn to. As a poet, I guess it would be images one is drawn to. Like the surface of the moon and those bleak images that add up to mountains.

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    1. Thanks, Dave. Definitely strange. This one may got away from me. I let the images just go on there own. But I liked what you said, The world is abuzz with much going on under the surface.

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  5. I like what I take to be the memory of season’s past, of summer and now that window open and fall and winter are sadly creeping in. It’s therapeutic to hear that the streetlights are discussing Moby Dick, to know that, in Sun Ra’s words, “there are other worlds that which to speak to you.” I’m in the midst of a massive crush on a girl and it’s not being reciprocated and holy gut wrenching is it painful and I know booze doesn’t help, but it seems to be the only option and so I’m turning my thoughts to the streetlights and their discussions, to get the hell out my head and stop thinking about her. Thanks

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    1. Steve, best of luck with your situation turning around. I miss summer. But I’m settling into the coming winter. Hopefully get a lot of reading down. Maybe Moby Dick will be on the list. The streetlights think so.

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      1. I just read something about the guy who wrote Moby Dick didn’t write after that. Is that true? Man, that’s depressing. To think there could come a day when there was no more inspiration so no need to write. I guess there are other activities to get into. I can’t think of any off the top of my head, but there must be some.

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      2. I’m not sure. I know Melville didn’t see to much success in his lifetime. Though was a sailor. I think he ended up on some tropical island and he was later found there. He ended up being, I think, a customs clerk in NYC. And I think Moby Dick has to be rediscovered after his death. If you’ve never read it, it’s really good.

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      3. i know the zeppelin song moby dick or i think i do? isn’t that the one with a lot of Jon bonham drums? or is there ever a zeppelin song without Bonham drums? I’m not much of an avid reader anymore and I know this because I look at my books and I see where the corners are creased on some pages or not creased, but you know making a triangle to mark the page because it hit me so hard, inspired me or whatever and now i reread the passage and i don’t get it and so then i stopped reading for a long time. laziness, I suppose. the computer internet was easier and that screen is so subtly seductive. i’m a junky. And then with wordpress, you can get instantly recognized by your hard work writing. in the old days people made copies at Kinkos and handed stories out on street corners or snuck into bars on open mic nights and read passages face to face……that shit scares me. I guess I’m a victim of the 21st century. My cousin isn’t. He realized that his mother’s opera voice was passed onto him and so now he sings Karaoke 3 or 4 times a week at the same bar and they love him there. It’s like he found a home and it makes me happy knowing that.

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      4. Finding where you belong matters, whether it’s a karaoke bar or a baseball field. Moby Dick is a Zeppelin song, and Bonham has a big drum sound in that one. I guess in almost every Zeppelin song he has a big sound.

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      8. Oh, and I forgot to say….thank you for mentioning the Melville book and saying it was good because I’m gonna try and read it this winter. I’ll keep you posted. Maybe I’ll do blog posts that try to connect passages from Moby Dick and what baseball thoughts are passing through my mind.

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      10. Never have braver words been said when I said Moby Dick and baseball. I might have gifted the horse or however that saying goes, shot myself in the foot? Screw it. I’m gonna find that Moby Dick and read it.

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  6. Love the espionage of daisies! 😄 Not to mention the vagabond sweater and the streetlights having a chat. And I know it’s not November any more but your poem had me humming Gorillaz “November Has Come.” Also, it sounds like you might need a bookcation, Bob? 🙂

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    1. Thanks, Sunra. I could definitely use a bookcation. I’m thinking if I could get away for the next 4 years with some books, that would be great😂. I like that Gorillaz song too.

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  9. Thank you for sharing such a beautifully surreal poem, Bob. I write reviews of both past and present poetry on my own page, and I hope you don’t mind that I wrote one for your piece. I’ve included the link to the review below. If you’d prefer I remove it for any reason, please let me know, and I’ll do so right away.
    Congratulations on all your success so far—I look forward to reading more of your work. Here’s the link to the review.

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  12. Aqba Qureshi's avatar Aqba Qureshi says:

    Reading a poem by you after a long, long time. How are you doing, Bob? This is a beautiful poem. You’ve got a way of making even the simplest things feel profound. This one’s staying with me.

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