This one was rather straightforward. I wanted a poem for the season at least a page long. These are the results and they are quite good overall. Lily even submitted her poem to Medusa's Kitchen and had it accepted and published.
Alyssa Villa
Halloweens Guests
Heart pounding, you look into the night
Hulking shadows lurk between worlds
This evening spirits roam unhindered
The moon rises, full in the sky
Drawing creatures out of the darkness
First they are heard
Whispers sliding along your skin, howls piercing the quiet
Then they are seen
Red penetrating eyes that speak of dark deeds
Inching their way towards you
Fiendish friends gather
One who reeks of the rotting dead
His ghoulish smile locked on you
Malevolence is their perfume
It fills you with dread
You turn to run
But there is no where to hide
Darkness is everywhere
Safety is a mere hope
A fleeting memory
This Halloween night
Nothing is to be seen
Save for the ominous silhouettes
Then cold chilling breeze sweeps through
Going straight to your bones
Seek shelter from the demons of the otherworld
They desire your soul
This is no game
Not a trick, nor a treat
Something wicked comes this way
Halloween’s guests
Visit once a year
To haunt the roads
And stalk the living
Alan Talavera
Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)
(inspired by The Mars Volta song by the same name)
This is the haunt of roulette dares
Lightning cracks cut window shades here
Burns color the air in filthy jeers
Spinning out blue-gold half moons
Which can barely seem to hold
Their grey breath long enough
For the four on the floor upstairs
Who never crossed the threshold
And whose screams remained
To festoon the eve in murk-
Red haze choked in black and white
Asphyxiation dripping from the floors
So thick that chandeliers drowned.
Somewhere, it will echo on ears
Raising goosebumps behind necks
Which have never felt a flame's
Hot, electrifying, blissful kiss or
Dragged nails down walls in fits
But then they were shut up
As across the darkened block
The fire's corpse implored them
To speak for the mute dead.
This is the haunt of roulette dares.
ALLISON CHEW
Witches Flight
Frightening ghouls and slick black cats
Cackling monsters and flickering pumpkins
Fill the darkness of the night
And set the scene of the witches flight
They mount their brooms and begin the voyage
Flying through clouds and the sunken stars
Chilling the air with their sinister smiles
And sending shivers down children’s spines
As the witches speed by
Children running from house to house
The witches observe the scramble
Passing darkened doorsteps, nothing there
Each house is such a gamble
Never knowing who is where
The children ring the doorbell again and again
Waiting excitedly for their precious treats
Candy and toys they wish to receive
If their daring plan is complete
At last after a long wait, the door swings open
And the children scream “Trick or Treat!”
A shadow is all that is visible in the door
The children attempt to sneak a peek for the candy bowl
But little do they know what was in store
A ghostly had reached through the curtain
The children take a step back
They hold their breath in anticipation
Their screams trapped inside unable to escape
“BOO!” a voice echoes around the porch
Chilling the bones of all around the block
The children let their screams run rampant
And suddenly everyone feels their fear
The witches circle and cackle above
The children run to their mothers
Candy bags lay forgotten on the sidewalk
The witches circle and cackle above
Their work is done and the kids have a good scare
The witches speed off into the darkness
And disappear into the clouds
Halloween is over and was quite the success
Nicole Schrager
The Midnight Carnival
Bare trees point their dark branches upwards like veins
threading into the burnt flesh of the sky.
Lights and glowing baubles spin round
and round, hovering, blinding, disorientating,
illuminating giant tents crouched
with open mouths sucking in
any inattentive wanderer lost in the mist,
set out on a grand adventure at first
but realizing later rather than sooner
the uncontrollable depths of this strange,
mystical world that only appears
at this hour on this day this very moment
appearing ahead and pulling you,
tearing at you, screaming at you, “come
let us attend you and turn you towards us
and slip inside your bones
and wear you like a puppet
on this night.”
Enter the tent, dazed and numb,
not yet afraid but only just,
you poor dumb beast,
raised from birth for nights like these.
Coo and laugh and marvel at our flashy parlor tricks
our golden eyes
our spells woven around you
until you are no longer.
Carne vale:
a farewell to the flesh.
Cover yourself with masks of bone
designed with blood.
Jump upon our stage and blend
into the slime dripping from the ceiling,
brushing the tips of your head-
vines perhaps, or entrails or your
old hanging bodies.
Plunge your hands into the uncertain goo
and wait there, immobilized.
Wait for us to call you out.
Juby Geli
Night
A night under a crooked moon
With sweeping crispy leaves, rustling
Through a town of Geist
Uttering words of a creaking gate
Desolate
Murky atmosphere engulfs
The last light before the nightfall
Venomous roots of aged trees
Wrap around delicate soil
Consumed
Ominous fog hovers
Above the restless fields of gray
Emptiness descends upon the hollow
Blue light streaking across the sky
Flickering
Then embers rise softly
Emitting a burning glow
Expiring at Zephyr’s gesture
As the smoke thickens unevenly
Winding
Bats take flight
Through a sky of absent stars
Fleeing from the tempest of silence
Their excursion of vibration
Commenced
The heavy air of the twilight
Leaves no prisoners behind
Danielle Brown
Candle
My mother tucked me into bed,
leaned over and kissed me on the head.
She bid me goodnight and said,
Don’t let the bed bugs bite my dear,
as the candle melted into the dark of the night.
The night sky was the blackest I had seen,
so black my eyes felt like they were drowning.
Drowning in a never ending black hole,
leading to nothing but emptiness and death,
as the candle melted into the dark of the night.
I heard a yell and bang down stairs.
Looking up I saw the candle oozing wax,
while I gripped my sheets,
tighter and tighter with every creak,
as the candle melted into the dark of the night.
My feet slowly inched out of the covers,
one by one afraid of the spirits in the air.
Quickly, I slung my body over the edge of the bed
and jumped, jumped as far from the bed as possible.
Scared of the bright yellow eyed monsters,
as the candle melted into the dark of the night.
Every step echoed in the hallway,
calling out to the demons waiting,
hiding in every crevice seething,
spilling out a frantic unrecognizable speech,
creeping closer and closer to my shacking body,
as the candle melted into the dark of the night.
A shadow seeped through the window
stretching, reaching towards me,
swaying back and forth in a rickety motion
desperately searching for a leg or arm to grasp.
Wanting to engulf me into the pit of darkness.
As the candle melted into the dark of the night.
Finally the room from which came the scream.
Hand slowly grasps the door knob.
A loud creak rings in the air.
Goose bumps begin to crawl up my arms
A chill runs down my spin,
as the candle light flickered out into the dark of the night.
Elizabeth Harrison
Just Puddles Over the Ground
Run run little feet over the leaf strewn ground
There is a crunching that follows
The pumpkin cat did warn
The tree ahead groans
run, Run, RUN!
Moon shining
Clouds boiling
Just at the edges
eyes off to the side
Following the foot trail
Howls in the night will not save you now
The hooting and hollering of a party now distant
Run run lead laced feet over gray graveled ground
There is crunching that still follows just behind
The green eyed jack-o-lantern did warn
The wind blowing by, whispers
run..., Run..., RUN!
Shadows dance
branches laugh
Just a breadth overhead
A bat flies through the night
Sky of eyes watching in mocking, silence
Bushes ruffled now with color as pieces of cloth are left
To glimmer masks and shining lights there is no trail left behind
Run run bare-bottomed feet over slime-slick ground
There is a crunching that still follows
The black pumpkins did warn
Wet grass underfoot mocks
run,...run,...run...
eyes watch
dead walk
under leafless trees
Someone cries out in the night
Time to avert your eyes from the scene
Red puddles where stop lights shine in the dark
Halloween parties share streets with lanes of dark secrets
Brandon Buonascori
Hallowed Be Halloween
Darkness envelopes and devours
Everything around it, crumbles
To a state of eternal dilapidation.
This night evokes horror
And calls upon powers unseen.
All to celebrate Halloween.
Disguises cannot mask the true nature
Of what this day truly signifies:
A celebration of evil and night.
Jack-O-Lanterns and Rippers
Stand in the open without a worry.
For this is their night.
Bones constructed in human form
Roam with witches, trolls, and goblins.
All human creations in our minds.
But not the part of our mind that is good.
No, for everyone has their own duality.
A state of good contrasted by pure evil.
That is where the creatures come from.
The deep, hidden, dark corners of our souls.
This night, we let these evils out to play.
All to celebrate Halloween.
The séances, spells, and sanctified rituals
Are no joking matters of fun.
They call upon true demons
And welcome them to waltz
And frolic in the centers of towns.
Do not worry, they bring presents,
Of coldness, horror, panic, and dismay.
Keep your black cats indoors.
For if they roam about,
You may never see them again.
Their bloody corpse will lie dead in a street.
All to celebrate Halloween.
This darkness devours light.
Where colors ran vibrant,
There exists deep distress instead.
Children do not understand
The true essence of this evening.
To them, it is all tricks and treats
Ignoring the evil all around.
All to celebrate Halloween.
This evening welcomes darkness
With more than open arms.
It gives darkness free reign
Over fear, death, rage, and passion.
Do not take Halloween lightly.
Respect what the day means.
Hallowed be Halloween.
Jessica Patru
All Hallow’s Eve
The night is sinister
A gust of wind blows by;
The fog forms a veil on the graveyard
Where the dead claim this night for themselves.
This is All Hallow’s Eve.
A time for witches to bewitch
And for black cats to prowl with a curse
A time to turn cards to see if desolation will befall you
But there is no time for turning back now
This is All Hallow’s Eve.
Bad omens surround all
On this night where ghosts transcend
Both time and space,
And where goblins chase.
This is All Hallow’s Eve.
There is no smile on the moon tonight
Only an eerie glow with
No glimmer of hope;
The howl of a werewolf proclaims
This is All Hallow’s Eve.
All creatures roam the earth tonight,
From gremlins to the spirits of the dead,
A million spooks are possible
No one is safe tonight
This is All Hallow’s Eve.
Through those shadowy woods
A headless horseman is waiting
The stance of his black horse trumpets:
Beware to all who are brave enough
To cross this threshold into the night!
This is All Hallow’s Eve.
Tonight is All Hallow’s Eve,
A night where no hope exists,
A night where the last day of the month
Might suggest no tomorrow
And where everything could go wrong.
Sabrina Berci
Little Suzy Amber's
One more night 'til I'm a little fairy, mommy,
One more night 'til I get to dress up!
A high-pitched voice, applause of anticipation
Little Suzy Amber's
And the day finally came, and sun finally left
Crickets finally sang, and house to house finally began
Feet finally went, finally step, step
Little Suzy Amber's
A festive fuschia bike,
Betrayed at the side of the house
Candy poured, more important than mode of transportation
Little Suzy Amber's
Caramel apples and candy corn
Melted to the bottom of the
Pumpkin-shaped carrier
Little Suzy Amber's
A metallic wand, a lavender tutu
A small, delicate, shiny beaded bracelet
And two ballet flats, missing pink ribbons
Little Suzy Amber's
A full moon, illuminating a disappearance
Creating a glow on a tiny sparkly hair piece
Within its grasp, a hair follicle
Little Suzy Amber's
Mother recalls the trot, a skip with a high jump
Father recalls the voice, reciting excited words
Both recall the wave of the wand, the twirl,
Little Suzy Amber's
Darkness sings a silent, black laugh and
Tonight cackles with the shine of the wand
Missing a small, nail-polished child's hand
Little Suzy Amber's
Crimson galaxy sparkles and silver fringes
Remnants of a fairy costume on a splintery fence,
A long lost fairy
Little Suzy Amber
One more night 'til I'm a fairy, mommy,
One more night 'til I get to dress up!
One more night
Little Suzy Amber's
Lily Viek
Death by Chocolate
From a small town far far away
To a major city with frightening creatures
Taken from my home with many others
Forced to change my name and my form
Clustered together waiting for the inevitable
Tossed and turned without a care
In a huge building of many noises
With dangerously dark narrow corners
So easy to be lost and forgotten
Giant cobwebs stretched across the ceiling
What is this dungeon, this factory of terror?
I can feel my soul fleeing my body
I’m forced into the scorching heat
My figure melting, dripping, gone
What’s left of me? Nothing. Just my essence
My soul lingering in its new form
Wrapped up and packaged to be sent away
Traveling from one place to another
I’ve been trapped since birth with no hope of escape
This is my destiny, my purpose, my fate
I’m one in a million and no longer me
No one notices, no one remembers
My new self is grabbed and gathered
Displaced and distorted. Lost and confused
In a deep dark hole with no way out
Constantly being crushed and shaken, unable to move
Trapped and blinded by darkness
Screams and laughter filling the air
When I thought it was all over and all had settled down
I’m freed from the cave and from my colorful mask
Only to enter a new dark and damp torture chamber
Of which I’ll never return
Munch. Munch. Munch.
Acid slowly dissolving everything
Even my essence
Allie Gurvitz
Hallow’s Eve
A gentle breeze rustling through the dry cornstalks.
A hushed sound is heard,
The hissing of the unlucky black cat,
As the children walk along the vacant sidewalk,
Still trying to get the last bit of candy from each house
The cloudless night hovers over them,
The harvest moon stares into the children’s eyes
The dead leaves skip on the porches bare,
The windows clatter and whine at the last house.
This house lay on the top of a steep hill,
Not easy to get to,
Not easy to escape from.
This haunted mansion is known for its possessors
The witches that snatch up children and eat them.
But children return year after year,
To prove the stories are not true at all.
These children try to look strong and powerful,
So they return to this haunted mansion to live to tell the story.
Knock, Knock, Knock.
“Trick or Treat,” they scream out loud,
The door creaks open into a pitch-black house.
It looks like no one is home to give these children their treats.
The shadow of a ghost lurks on the side of the house.
The children slowly back away from this abandoned place
Trying to run along and get home safely.
The bushes quiver where the shadows lean,
Hearts racing faster and faster,
Thunderous footsteps follow the children
As they try to run away from the creepy abode.
The night turns into silence,
The panting of the children stop,
The footsteps cease,
And nothing can be heard but the sound of the hissing unlucky black cat.
The mystery lurks throughout the night,
The witches,
The cat,
Or a ghost,
No one knows.
This hallow’s eve scarred many in this town.
The unknown stories and the obscurity,
But then again, it is Halloween.
These are the possibilities of this creepy, annual night.
Barbara Bonaparte
MY HALLOWEEN
Shadows of small figures of what seems to be approaching
Worn out voices of “trick-oh-treat”
Variations of pitches and pronunciations depending on gender and age.
I heard a my bell ring, but did not make a sound
I did not move. I did not creep.
I simply peered outside my window gazing and the level of excitement present on the kids face
They were excited and happy
But why?
Did they know the meaning of Halloween? Was there even a meaning
I had been so sheltered as a young child.
To my mom , no place was safe, especially on Halloween
Halloween, the devil’s holiday she would proclaim
But the kids, they look so happy, so excited .
I wanted to relive my childhood. I wanted to be happy. I wanted to be excited.
But my moms voice kept ringing in my ear, This is the Devil’s holiday.
I didn’t want to disobey my mother, let alone disobey my God.
But if my mom’s voice was ringing isn’t that like a spirit speaking to me?
Isn’t Halloween about spirits connecting with the present?
All these costumes, all these faces, they represented a reincarnation or remembrance of the past.
This was indeed hypocrisy. I believed in Spirits. I believed in connecting with the past.
So why are we so fast to point fingers and deem something as wrong or void?
Aren’t the children happy. Happiness is bliss and I don’t think anyone should be deprived of such things.
Daniela Ponce
This Halloween night
On Halloween night the moon casts down an eerie glow
The wind chills deep down further than bones
On Halloween night:
When witches can be heard high above
Their cackles echoing and bouncing off shrewd winds
On Halloween night:
When ghouls and ghosts appear at your window
Horrid apparitions from which there is no escape
These ghouls who hunger for dead bodies
And ghosts who leave messages to cause unrest
And you know that monster that reaches out over your bed?
The one whose sinewy grimy hands terrify
He too partakes in Halloween night celebrations
He is the voice that whispers in your head
And the shadow on the moon that watches you
On Halloween night:
When flesh hungry zombies are let loose
From their soil trapped graves
When they crave blood and gore to drip from their lips
On Halloween night:
When the eyes of jack-o-lanterns follow your every step
And their carved in toothy smiles laugh as you dare pass
Yes, you!
In your silly little disguise in which you take pride
And on this Halloween night:
Beware of the quiet noises which you insist you make up
In your head things you see in the dark are not truly there
Marielissa Alvarez Landin
Black Darkness
Hello? Who’s there?
Is it you black night?
Come out, come out wherever you are.
It is time for you to prowl out to hunt
Today’s the day I fear you the most
The roaring sound of the wind
Leaves flying through my hair
As the tree branches pulling it
And you black night as my horizon
The way the wind brushes my skin
The terrorizing creature that come out to play
The moon glimmering brighter than ever before
I know you are here.
I walk outside at night, I feel your presence
I can feel you breathing on my shoulder
Then I start feeling icy cold
I can hear the your howl in my ears
Do you want to play a game?
Nobody know who you are
But when it’s Halloween
Everyone is frightened of you
Could it be your charming smile?
Or your glimmering eyes hiding in the darkness’s?
I think I’ve seen you before
You’re the one who would hide under my bed
Crawl out of the night and watch me sleep
It’s time to come out and play again
Make sure to bring all your friends for this year’s last fright fest
You wouldn’t want to miss it
And if you do, I wouldn’t look under your bed.
They will be waiting for you
Tick tock tick tock
Until they get what they came for…
YOU.
Giselle Rodriguez
In Paradise Road
The wind moaned in agony as it spread the word of the horrific events that it had witnessed
Yet nobody came, no one responded, nobody listened
The wind, it went into her house through the shattered window
It watched as it all happened, it stood still.
No one would have predicted what would occur that morning
In this peaceful street, Paradise Road,
Before this, nobody ever worried
Before this, people only feared the dark
She lived alone
But it wasn’t always like that
She once had a son, a husband, and even a dog named Daisy
But their time had ended, and soon hers would too
So gentle and kind
She seemed so fragile and weak
Yet every Halloween, she gathered up her strength, sat outside,
Admired all the children’s costumes, and rewarded them with candy
The wind, it couldn’t bare to move
It watched in horror as the devil itself walked through her house
The sound of the shattered window hadn’t woken her up
He walked towards her
This repulsive monster, it took her life
But first, it played its perverted game of torture
And when he was done,
He just left
Her once pale body, remained red and purple on the floor
She wasn’t there anymore
Just a lifeless body
Tortured until she could take no more
The devil himself had walked through this safe neighborhood
He had been there a thousand times before
Yet nobody suspected a thing
He took advantage of everyone’s trust
He had walked beside them for days
Watched intently, he was subtle
All he had to do was choose
And that day, he chose her.
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