This is a Halloween poem I learned as a school girl. Actually, it was taught to me as a song by my music teacher, Mrs. C. I loved singing it. But it really is a poem by Nancy Byrd Turner (1880-1971). She was a Virginian poet who, among other accomplishments, was an editor for The Atlantic and Houghton-Mifflin. Her work was published in several publications. She won two prizes for her poetry, The Golden Rose Award and the Virginian Writer’s Club poetry prize. After working in New York City, she retired to Ashland, Virginia to write.
I’m so pleased to share this Halloween poem by a Virginian author.
Black and Gold
Everything is black and gold.
Black and gold, tonight:
Yellow pumpkins, yellow moon
Yellow candlelight;
Jet-black cats with golden eyes
Shadows black as ink,
Firelight blinking in the dark
With a yellow blink
Black and gold, black and gold
Nothing in between
When the world turns black and gold
Then it’s Halloween!
Here is the video of the melody if you want to sing it or teach it to a child 🙂