Harvest Moon: A Pantoum

Written for Tanka Tuesday. Our host, Eugi, asks us
to write a syllabic form of poetry about the beautiful
season of Autumn and the September Harvest Moon.

A pregnant amber moon hangs in the night
The leafy path leads through the spartan trees
A distant farmhouse glows with cozy light
The shadows whisper in the autumn breeze

The leafy path leads through the spartan trees
Bare branches frame the gleaming, golden sphere
The shadows whisper in the autumn breeze
The quiet landscape speaks of winter near

Bare branches frame the gleaming, golden sphere
A distant farmhouse glows with cozy light
The quiet landscape speaks of winter near
A pregnant amber moon hangs in the night

NAR©2026

Nancy’s Notes: Pantoum is a poem usually built from a series of four-line stanzas (quatrains) where specific lines are repeated in a cascading, interlocking pattern. Traditional Western pantoums often use an alternating ABAB rhyme scheme in each stanza. To bring the poem full circle, the final stanza traditionally uses the opening stanza’s third line as its second line, and the poem’s opening line as its closing line.

This is “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young

#TankaTuesday No.83, Celebrating the First Day of Autumn and the Harvest Moon, 9/22/26

^{Everything on The Elephant’s Trunk was created by me, unless otherwise indicated, and may not be used without permission. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.}