Halloween Proposal

A waxing moon slides behind its darkening shroud,
The north wind turns around and blows icy,
Lily’s shrieking cat, hissing and mad, leaps free—
Halloween again? For crying out loud

Rustling costumes all bloody-black, and orange
Infect the no longer still neighborhood streets;
Such scareful dress of cotton and pilloried sheets,
Can you say any of this could be called strange?

Old dry bones, witches on brooms aflight;
Goblins, ghosties, things that bump and boom
Seizing All Souls as terror grabs up all the room;
All present and correct on this October night

Bags and bags and bags candied-full fattening sweet
Await careful parental inspection and sure disposal—
Eat it all! Quite an impossible and silly proposal,
Despite your earnest best cast spell: Trick or Treat!

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Trick Or Treat!

So, there I was
Doing Personal Private Secret Stuff
Getting ready for Halloween
As if that wasn’t enough
When in walked the cat
With Terror, Grime, and Gloom
And deposited his latest kill
In the middle of my just-mopped front room

So, there I left
My Personal Private Secret Stuff
And grabbed said kitty
By his scrawny-necked scruff
To put him out
In the yonder backyard
Hoping the damage wasn’t permanent
And the floor tweren’t totally marred

So, there I went for the mop
But it wasn’t there
Hanging from its bent hook
Underneath the cobwebbed lonely back stair
BUT…UP… THERE,
Across a cold October 31 moon
Figures slashing, thrashing, and flashing
Putting this old heart into a frightened swoon:
Witches upon brooms, stick-handles, and mops
Crazy calico clad creatures
Some even missing their necessary cranial tops!

So, it’s Happy Halloween
With all that Suspenseful, Terror-ridden Scary Stuff—
Did you get the good kind of candy?
Do you really believe that you bought enough?
Cuz here come the witches
And the ghosties and some things quite deplorable
(Though we really know that inside
Are youngling-type folk who are most adorable).

But don’t you believe it’s all just a simple thrill,
Beware of your cat returning with a kill;
And should you meet at your door a Witchie missing her cranial-type top
Kindly request of her, when finished, to return me my mop

Trick Or Treat!