Mostly Orange-Flavored Haiku

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Leaves fall in warm hues.
Cool breeze, early nights, crisp air. 
Autumn says "Hello".

by Alyssa Dearborn (Liverpool 2018)

It’s mid-October, a Mostly Orange-flavored time of year here in Central New York. With Autumn now in full swing, what better time to pull a few haiku out from our archives to brighten things up!

October arrives
Time for leaves and spooky things 
Fall shows her beauty

by Lou Ann Pilon (Pennellville 2018)

flame red veins on leaves 
golden faces letting go 
waltz with wind then rest

by Sally Hendee (Hawley 2016)

Like an artist’s canvas, October’s changing skies, gusty winds and fluctuating temperatures have once again created unexpected sensory delights all around us with warm shades of orange, yellow and red — the quintessential colors of Autumn here in Upstate New York.

Leaves, brown yellow red 
Colors falling over green 
Nature's changing art

by Michael Brigandi (Syracuse 2014)

‘long the creek untrimmed
sumac wave fall-singed leaves, flaunt 
burnt sienna horns

by Ellen Agnew (Syracuse 2007)

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Even October’s full moon on the 28th — the Hunter Moon — is expected to be a bright shade of orange.

moonbeams hitch a ride
onto lazy waves, while the 
leaves flutter and fall

by Debra Alexis (Jamesville 2016)

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Speaking of Autumn-colored moonbeams, when creating the beautiful illustration below, artist James McCampbell, writes: ”….When I read this efficient haiku that evoked the beauty of the fall season and the passion of two people in love, the idea of my eventual illustration bloomed inside my head. Once I took a photograph at dusk in the Franklin Square area, the poster design came together quickly. I wanted to use the shape of an imagined couple to frame the scene via the use of negative space. Once the first draft was completed, it all felt like it was meant to be. Simultaneously as the sun begins to set, the dawn of young love begins.”

Wild Autumn wind whips
Two young lovers first wild kiss
Embrace crimson leaves

Poet: Jane Curley
Artist: James McCampbell
Series: 2021

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On a bright October day, stunning visions of mostly orange shades of Autumn abound: on a drive to the local pumpkin patch or a wagon ride out to pick apples or a quick stop at a farmer’s market for the last of sweet corn, sunflowers and acorn squash.

Orange foliage
Amid the crisp Autumn air 
Apple picking days

by Cynthia DeKing (Zephyr Hills 2020)

red apples, red barns
Rolling hillsides, cornfields tilled 
Blazing leaves, Autumn!

by Patricia Rickard-Lauri (Baldwinsville 2017)

Bountiful harvests,
Corn mazes, pumpkin patches. 
Picture-perfect Fall.

by Perri Hogan (Syracuse 2018)

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“Orange” is also the official color of the SU Orange — whether you enjoy basketball or football, soccer or field hockey, SU Orange sports dominate the news here — all year long.

Touchdowns and skinned knees
leaves fall, covering the ground 
We all bleed Orange

by Stephanie Maksymiw (Auburn 2019)

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Poet Lewis Hylton reflects on the inspiration for his fine haiku below: “I first encountered the “Saltine Warrior” sculpture when my father took me to S.U. football games at Archbold Stadium. It was Ernie Davis’s first varsity season, the year S.U. won the National Championship. The sculpture was in a prominent location on University Place which I tried to walk by every game on the way to the stadium. The warrior exemplified the spirit of excellence in Syracuse athletics. When the “Saltine Warrior” was discontinued from the role as a sports mascot, the statue was relocated to a sculpture court elsewhere on the campus, which is where I rediscovered it some years later. Reconnecting with it inspired the creation of my haiku.”

Secluded glory
Red and orange tradition
Saltine bow poised taut

Poet: Lewis Hylton
Artist: William Smith IV
Series: 2016

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Is it still a Mostly Orange-flavored Autumn outside your window? Be sure to soak it all in before it’s blown away!

Like a dusting of snow
Orange blankets the ground
Time to rake up leaves

by Rosalyn M. Carroll (Manlius 2016)

Vanished Autumn leaves
a murder of black crows guard 
the lonesome oak tree

by Jungtae Lee (Syracuse 2019)

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To read more about each poet and artist listed above, click on their name where highlighted. To read more Autumn-themed haiku on our Poetry Blog, click HERE. For Halloween-inspired haiku, click HERE. If you’d like to read more October-themed haiku, click HERE. And, if you’d like to purchase any of the illustrated haiku posters featured on this post, click on the highlighted Series Year; if you’d like to view and purchase any of our other beautiful haiku posters, click HERE — with the holidays just around the corner, they make great gifts!

Thank you!

Posted by Rosalyn M. Carroll for the Syracuse Poster Project

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🍂🍂 Haiku For Autumn 2021 🍂🍂

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Just like clockwork, the Autumn Equinox arrived last week with the colorful turning of Maple trees, Hydrangea Mopheads and Hardy Mums. 

As Autumn colors
playgrounds, school-swept children play
in their bright new clothes.

by John Parker (Syracuse 2016)

White Hydrangeas fade 
to pink as late Summer rains 
feed the Burning Bush

by Rosalyn M. Carroll (Manlius 2021)

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From towering Sunflowers and laden-filled Farmer Markets to crowded Apple Orchards, Autumn not only tickles the senses but allows us to slow down and breathe deep its many pleasures.

Cornfield seas rolling,
Dewy warm cider mornings--
Hillsides’ joyful gifts.

by Dave Gangemi (Camillus 2017)

Music fans listen
on straw bale chairs under a
deep blue Autumn sky.

by Diane Lansing (Syracuse 2007)

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From our 2020 Series, our featured haiku poster vividly illustrates one of the many ways Autumn tugs at our senses. Both artist, Picasso Dular, and poet, Kathleen Wheatley, used nostalgia and their autumnal memories of smell and taste to create this evocative poster.

Sweet apple orchards
Cinnamon spice flooded dreams
Wake me up, autumn!

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Autumn is more than Falling Leaves and migrating Geese. As evidenced by our archive of haiku and previous blog posts on the subject, Summer’s End and the vibrant Change in Season is the source of reflection and inspiration for many area poets and artists.

Horse Chestnut petals 
like flowers on a mule’s hat
paint canal waters.

by Michael Sickler (Minoa 2001)

Chill wind stirs the woods. 
Gold leaves sail like pirate ships 
Out of the blue sky. 

by Craig Overbeck (Fayetteville 2018)

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Happy Autumn!

Posted by Rosalyn M. Carroll for the Syracuse Poster Project

Haiku for a Summer’s End

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Summer’s end is often bittersweet, isn’t it? The warm days, without the need of a jacket, quickly become a distant memory as the thermometer gradually drops to the low 50’s by mid- September. While sweaters replace shorts and flip-flops, the deep green leaves of the Geraniums turn yellow and the familiar sing-song of crickets begins to fade as windows close tight against chilly nights.

Ruby dragonfly
alights on the garden gate
Summer still lingers

by Joan Loveridge-Sanbonmatsu (Syracuse 2015)

No doubt you’ve noticed this slow change over the last few weeks, beginning with the pale sun rising later and later to mark the start of the day to its setting in the West way too soon in the early evening.

Owl hooted at Dawn
as she tucked in the Moon and
Stars — Morning rose Blue

by Rosalyn M. Carroll (Manlius 2020)

Aside from the date on the calendar–and children going back to school–there are other signs in Nature reminding us that this Summer of COVID-19 is coming to an end.

Overhead a skein
of honking geese stitch clouds in
gray and downy quilts

by Mary Taitt (Grosse Pointe Farms 2001)

Other signs of this colorful change in season include the multitude of farm stands that have cropped up (no pun intended) on country roads and on city streets.

mums, melon, mushrooms
Summer’s bountiful buffet–
bustling farm market.

by Evelyn Ayers-Marsh (Syracuse 2001)

When you think about it, this time of year is the only time in Central New York that you can enjoy sun-sweetened corn-on-the-cob and plump red, farm-grown tomatoes!

tomato-warmed palm,
teeth tear, taste ray’s explosion.
Sliced sunlight on bread.

by Rachael Ikins (Baldwinsville 2016)

The end of Summer is also elephant-high sunflowers and cornfields. It is golden bales of hay laying round and full on plowed-under fields. From our 2020 Series, our featured haiku poster deftly illustrates such a scene. The richly-worded haiku was written by Philip Nast and the colorfully detailed poster was illustrated by Tammra Cook.

yellow rounds of hay / cast shadows in stubbled field / sun slips behind hills

Perhaps one of the most telling signs that Summer is making its exit is the quiet at the bird feeder. As our feathered friends leave us for warmer climates, their departure ushers in the golden beauty of the Autumnal Equinox. They leave us with warm and cheerful memories along with the promise of new beginnings and peaceful days ahead.

Hummingbirds fly South
signaling Summer’s Swan Song
and Autumn arrives.

by Mark Calicchia (Letchworth State Park 2020)

A change of season, a change of light — what strikes you the most during these days of change? Let us know in the comments below or send us a haiku!

Be well and stay safe!

Rosalyn M. Carroll for the Syracuse Poster Project

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Harvest Scenes from CNY

While the calendar says Autumn, it still feels like Summer in CNY. The sound of crickets has quieted at night and the kids are gone back to school. But the hustle and bustle at your local farmer’s market is still hopping! Last week, we wrote about celebrating the change of seasons with the bountiful harvests found nearly everywhere you turn here in CNY. In fact, you can still gather late summer fruits and vegetables from one of the many fruitful markets dotting Syracuse area communities.

When we did not receive any new Harvest Haiku in response to our last post, we decided to dig a little deeper into our archives of un-illustrated haiku. We came across a few which splendidly reflect these end of September harvest days.

This richly worded haiku was written in 2009 by frequent Syracuse Poster Project contributor, Sherry Chayat, from Syracuse, NY. Can you just picture this singular moment?

in harvested fields
geese forage for a last meal
then rise up shrieking

Or this haiku? A picture postcard scene you might see on a drive down a country road in CNY! The poem was written in 2014 by Kathleen Pickard from Jordan, NY.

Corridor of corn, 
Rows of stately sentinels
guarding country roads

Another of our favorite haiku posters reflecting our bountiful CNY home was created in this beautiful Syracuse Poster Project illustration in 2003. The poet: Michele Reed. The former Syracuse University illustration student: Sebastian V. Martorana now an artist living and working in Baltimore, MD.

      rich purple eggplant             vies for space in my basket    with summer’s last greens

Lynn McDonald, formerly of Syracuse and now living in Utah, beautifully sums up this week’s thoughts in her 2008 haiku:

harvested corn and
red leaves of autumn whisper
cornucopia

What is your favorite September moment? Send us your haiku in the comments and we’ll publish it here on the Poetry Blog next week!

Happy Harvest!