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Readers can click to the next month at the conclusion of each poem. You can also go to each month by clicking on the link to the months here:
Jan/Feb/Mar/Apr/May/Jun/Jul/Aug/Sep/Oct/Nov/Dec/Intro
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October, 2026
“O as in October”
by Geer Austin
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The cover of John Coltrane’s 1966 Impulse! album Meditations
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O as in October
October is a round month like the letter O.
A letter like a circle. October brisk and colorful.
Yet, changeable like a Coltrane solo, taking us
to unexpected temperatures, cool to warm
to spiritual. Is spiritual a temperature?
Coltrane makes it so. My creator has a
master plan. Who was his creator?
Earth Mother, maybe. Or the Milky Way.
Coltrane, all inclusive, nurturing like a bowl
of pumpkin soup with a dash of cayenne.
A soup bowl is another circle. Round like
an O. Coltrane’s music started in his brain,
passed through his mouth to a reed
that vibrated in the breeze of his breath,
went down the instrument’s brass neck,
into its body and out its bell. The rim of
the bell another circle. An O like October.
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Listen to Geer Austin read his poem
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Geer Austin’s poetry has appeared in Poet Lore, Fjords Review, Main Street Rag, BlazeVOX, Neuro Logical Magazine and others, and his fiction has appeared in A/U Magazine, the podcast A Story Most Queer and elsewhere. He is the author of Cloverleaf, a poetry chapbook (Poets Wear Prada Press). He lives in New York City.
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Listen to the 1966 recording of John Coltrane performing his composition “Serenity,” with McCoy Tyner (piano); Jimmy Garrison (bass); and Elvin Jones (drums). [Universal Music Group]
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Click here to read Judith Vaughn’s poem for November
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