At Home in the Fall
A Birthday Poem
Dear Fellow Dreamer,
Where I live, this is a time of giving thanks and counting blessings. Having a birthday at this time—in 2025, “a significant birthday” on the full harvest moon—has been a reminder to be grateful for the journey of each day. And that every harvest is a cause not only for celebration, but for a willing surrender. An acceptance that things come to fullness and fruition, and seasons change. New seeds find their way in the dark. In this world of dancing particles, we are made to live in cycles. To attune to the wind. I took the picture in this post a few days ago, on our visit to the Eastern Townships of Québec. There, many of my people (a quarter of my family tree) lived for generations on farms, at home in the seasons and rhythms of the land. The next time I write to you, I’ll share more on that ancestral tour, including photos, a surprise or two, and reflections on “thin places” and what the Celts called the Oran Mór—the Great Song. Until then, I wish you a happy October and Thanksgiving. May you find magic exactly where you are.
At Home in the Fall
There’s something about October sun, knowing it’s brief, that makes the glow warmer— gives extra gleam across a silvered blue sky. There’s something about knowing what thirty years feels like, and thirty more, that makes this moment leap— a bright ache inside the transitory whole embrace. © Robin Blackburn McBride
A bit of news…
I’m glad to let you know my poem “Warming” appears in Phylum Press’s Issue 003, Phoenix Moss. Find the magazine here.
On December 2nd, I’ll be giving a poetry reading in Wakefield, QC, as part of Poetea’s fall series. More details to follow.
Several people have said they’d be interested in joining me for a generative Zoom gathering (all levels and genres) on the topic of ancestral stories and ghosts. This would be a warm and evocative writing session where the aim is to have fun, and to leave amazed and inspired, with new ideas crackling. It would take place on a late fall weekend. Feeling a pull? Please let me know. If the idea receives a few more nods, I’ll set a date and create a way to register.
Happy birthday, Robin! Hope it was dreamy. Can't wait to hear about your ancestral tour; the veil has, indeed, been thinning. Much beginning to show itself.
Fun fact: I just learned that October named by the Romans and referring to the number eight, as in octagon and octopus despite being the 10th month, originally occupied that position, as their calendar began in March. January and February were only added later to adjust to the earth's actual turning around the sun and designated as the first two months. So it's "fall back October!" (pun intended) (:
Beautiful Robin and happy belated Continuation Day..."In this world of dancing particles, we are made to live in cycles" ...the cycles of bright aches, clinging, surrendering, dried seeds and tender sprouts...may this cycle bear luscious fruit, dark clouds to shape reflection, and ample surprise and wonder🙏🏻