I’ve got a couple poetry treats for you this Halloween.  First up is a brand-new piece, “Pumpkin Ash and Cypress Knees,” in Boudin by The McNeese Review.  They just released their special issue today, with the delightful theme of It Came from the Swamp!  My poem was inspired by my trip to New Orleans a few years back, when I took a Bayou Segnette swamp tour.  Our tour guide was an ecologist who talked about how the bayou comes from the river (as opposed to feeding into it), and the water can change directions.  I fell in love with the plants rising within and around the water.  It took me a while, but the memory of that setting finally came back as this poem. 

Next, “Dancer Summons,” my belly dance poem, has been reprinted in the Pastoral Haunting issue of Pastel Pastoral.  It first appeared in The Common Tongue Magazine.  Please share it with any dancers in your life. 

And don’t forget, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association has their annual Halloween page up, with audio recordings of spooky recitations, including my poem “Nightmarens.” 

I’ll leave you with some October pumpkin patch vibes.  Earlier this month, my family had a gorgeous fall day at the pumpkin patch.  It was dry and foggy, unlike last year’s fiasco when we had to slog through ankle-deep mud in the corn maze.  Aw, who am I kidding, I also enjoyed the soggy adventure!  But this year had a particularly iconic feel to it: