November
Nights are cold, days crisp and bold.
On the ground and in the trees,
Vast array of red and gold
Eyes behold as daylight flees.
Morning frost defies the sun.
Breeze demands we bundle up.
Embers glow; there’s fireside fun.
Relish now fall’s steaming cup.
December
Daylight time is short on these cold days,
Each, a harbinger of New Year’s joys.
Calendar’s last page is on display.
Eager kids descend on Christmas toys.
Mirth dispels ill will this time of year.
Blessings have been many. How they flow!
Evergreens grace homes where we spread cheer,
Reminisce, and watch the drifting snow.
Janice Canerdy is a retired high-school English teacher from Potts Camp, Mississippi. Her poems have appeared in numerous publications: anthologies by Quill Books, Mississippi Poetry Society, the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, journals and magazines: Westward Quarterly, Lyric, Lighten Up Online, Saturday Evening Post, and more. She has had two books published: Expressions of Faith (Christian Faith Publishing, 2016, out of print) and From Serious to Slapstick~~Poems Like Life (Mississippi Poetry Society, Inc., 2024). She is an active member of the Mississippi Poetry Society, Inc.
Thank you, Janice, for these attractive and skilful acrostic poems. You paint an evocative word-picture of the sights and emotions of this special time of year. Best wishes, Bruce.
I truly appreciate this response, Bruce. Thanks so much.
There’s always the danger of an acrostic poem being gimmicky. But here you’ve augmented two stand-alone poems by expounding the sights, sounds and imagery of November and December, peppered here and there with a garnishing of alliteration and internal rhyme.
Thanks for the reads, Janice.
Glad you enjoyed them, Paul. Thanks so much.
Enjoyed these two Acrostics, Janice. Many of my old poems, free verse acrostics, I guess they would be called now, were fueled by that process.
It’s good to see they can be written in the classic form as you have done.
“November” is beautiful trochaic tetrameter, and the extended enjambment of lines 2, 3, and 4 is excellently done. “December” is also trochaic, but in pentameter. In both poems the lines end masculine, which is always tighter and neater.
Delightful poems, Janice. I like how the first letter of each line is in bold to draw the reader’s attention.
Janice, I love these poems for their creativity, their melody, and their sense of the season. They have made me smile… and a smile is a gift during harsh times. Thank you very much indeed!