Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Halloween Comes Creeping






The cold air chills the senses
As October comes around again…
Under a cloud streaked Harvest Moon…
The first frost descending
Clings to fat orange pumpkins
Some with Jack-O-Lantern smiles
Indian Corn stalks stacked…
Ghosts and witches in the windows…
Skeletons twisting in the trees…
The dead arise fetid and obscene
The images of Halloween…

At sunset the earthy aroma hangs
Fall leaves are being burned…
After all their colors turned…
The tendrils of smoke
Swirl among the headstones
Blue-gray serpents tongues
Sensually stroking the cold…
Ancient weathered granite…
Markers of the dead…
The bouquet of decay gone green
The smells of Halloween…

The wind moans a lost lament
As distant wolves howl a tune…
Discordant song sung to the moon…
The voices whispering
Eerie messages on the wind
Through skeletal fingers
Come haunting to our ears…
Enhancing our nervous fears…
As the bats awake from slumber…
Dark wings flap overhead unseen
The sounds of Halloween…

Hair on necks stand stiffly
As we imagine sticky spider-webs…
Or monstrous claws upon our heads…
The ghosts and ghouls
Grabbing at our soft flesh
Jealous of our life’s blood
Their decayed flesh hangs…
Bare skulls and dripping fangs…
As we run away from the nightmare…
A night of hysteria and screams
The feel of Halloween…

The Indian Pudding was tasty
And the pumpkin pie was a delight…
Now costumes appear in the night…
To trick-or-treat for
Sweet candies and cookies
Goodies for the fearless few
Who come a haunting…
By porch light, so undaunting…
Dreams of chocolate on each tongue…
The candy corn and caramel crème
The taste of Halloween…

I celebrate the Pumpkin King
With a childish joy unbound…
At last Halloween has come around…
As it always comes again
Honoring the cycle of life
With it’s dying and it’s dead
We can confront our fears…
We all carry through the years…
With tools used from cradle to grave…
I believe you may know what I mean
The five senses of Halloween

R. C. Arquette
10/8/00