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MCC Daily Tribune

President's Wednesday Message

This past week, the colors in the Finger Lakes have been ablaze, which made me recall this short poem by Emily Dickinson, typically referred to as "Autumn":

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I'll put a trinket on.

And, in searching for the text of this poem, I found another by Dickinson that I had forgotten; it captures the bright yet deep red of autumn that surrounds us this time of year but does so through a bloody metaphor that seems perfectly suited to Halloween week:

The name--of it--is "Autumn"--
The hue--of it--is Blood--
An Artery--upon the Hill--
A Vein--along the Road--

Great Globules--in the Alleys--
And Oh, the Shower of Stain--
When Winds--upset the Basin--
And spill the Scarlet Rain--

It sprinkles Bonnets--far below--
It gathers ruddy Pools--
Then--eddies like a Rose--away--
Upon Vermilion Wheels--

What is your favorite fall (or Halloween) poem? I hope you'll share it in the comments on the blog.

Anne Kress
Office of the President
10/30/2019