Greetings and Salutations, my fellow poets!

Every year I usually dedicate the spark that falls around Halloween to spooky poems. However, just as I was googling my usual favorite creepy poems for this spark, I happened to glance outside: the brilliant autumn wind whipped a few dry leaves past my window just as one of the many crows that live around my house launched itself skyward. It wasn’t spooky at all. It was exhilarating. The wind, the sky, and the smell of mold and dry chaff that rattles around the yard at this time of year are all spooky, but those things can also be so much more.

With that in mind, here are a few of my favorite spooky poems:

Shakespeare — Three Witches from Macbeth

Poe — The Raven

Jonson — Third Charm from Masque of Queens

But also, here are some excellent poems that capture the spirit of autumn, beyond spookiness:

Glück — October (section I)

Hoch — Late Autumn Wasp

Wright — Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio

Faiz — When Autumn Came

For this poem spark, write an autumn poem. It can be spooky or it can be majestic and haunting. It’s up to you to choose what part of this season speaks most strongly when you glance outside. Good luck!

.