Hibernation ends after
The Arizonan season of heat
It is in the oxygen of October
We find the antidote to
Summer’s sleep apnea
Summer is behind us
What stifled has blown away
First by the dusty haboob
Then by the monsoon
That comes later every year
Dog walks in early morning
Paws comfortable on cool sidewalks
Paw-boots are not needed
To protect its soft pads
The mountain is calling in the north
The summit of my existence
Where I want my ashes to be released
And float in the wind
Settling in its sun and shadows
As I did in this life
October is calling
Inviting us to our ofrenda
Of marigolds and ancestors
Alive and dead at the same time
We take shelter in the dark half
Of the year
Under the raven’s black-as-night feathers
That brush our cheeks
Like a pillow to sink into again
Thank you, dverse, for the October prompt! https://dversepoets.com/2025/10/07/poetics-tripping-the-october-light-fantastic/?unapproved=455076&moderation-hash=a154c3ce938eef14f13d4e71fa0c72dd#respond
WhatsHerName Writes 
Wow! I’m the same love when the cool air descends on Arizona. I enjoyed the subtle reference to Día de los Muertos and your Hispanic heritage. The veil between life and death is definitely thin this time of year.
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This brings me back to when I spent 8 months in Arizona working, and coming from Sweeden in the end of November was fantastic… to me it felt like summer 🙂
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I am amazed at how delicately you melded the concrete imagery, the imagery of heat and sensation on paws and skin, the enforced “hibernation,” with the imagery of the liminal space that October creates, mystically summoning. I enjoyed reading this so much, Rebeca. I see now what you meant by your comment on the prompt page, that writing this was “like shedding snake skin.” I feel the relief viscerally through your lines as well as a relaxation in the new, the inevitable, what is to come.
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Rebeca, you so skilfully conveyed the change in season in AZ in October. I love this idea:
Settling in its sun and shadowsAs I did in this life
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