Frost and Punkin Poems

“When the frost is on the punkin an’ the  fodder’s  in  the  shock” is a theme the nature poets hev allus laid up fur stock; when they’re shy on other topics then this storehouse they unlock, an’ touch up the yeller punkins an’ the fodder in the shock. This to me’s a sign uv weakness, that they’re nearly down an’ out, that Parnassus is revoltin’ an’ the muse is up the spout, cuz no poet would be writin’ on the subjict Riley led ef he hed a decent poem in the attic overhead. Ez for me I wouldn’t do it ef I hed to pass the year, an’ no string uv nature classics from my pencil should appear. I would scorn to copy Riley, writin’ verses that would mock “When the frost is on the punkin’, an’ the fodder’s in the shock.”

c. Aug. 26, ‘09