Poetry Friday--Sandburg as Pumpkin

Carl Sandburg takes on the the persona of a pumpkin in his poem "Theme in Yellow."

Theme in Yellow

I SPOT the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o'-lantern
With terrible teeth
And the children know
I am fooling.

To my mind this is the perfect Halloween poem for kids. It paints a colorful picture of the autumn landscape, and although it describes prairie cornfields, it could be describing fields anywhere in the United States (well, maybe not Hawaii).

I am pleased by the way the writer ends the poem with "And the children know/I am fooling." It is a gentle reminder to kids that Halloween is all about show, and that there is really nothing to be afraid of. Very comforting.

For more of Sandburg's poetry, we have Sandburg's Complete Poems [811.5 SAN]. Looking for even more poetry today? Check out the Poetry Friday Round-Up at Poetry for Children where you'll find a little bit of this and a little bit of that! Happy Halloween!