The seasons are a changing
Shedding dead autumn leaves
They tumble through the air
On a mission to flee

You rake and you rake
But they just reappear
That damn neighbor’s tree
You tell him each year

Please cut it down
Or at least trim it back
But he blows you off
Then proceeds to laugh

As the wind picks up
It cuts through the air
Disturbs the silence
Then ruffles your hair

A toss of the rake
To let off some steam
First a snap, then a crack
Then a splitting of seams

A weight from above
Something has broken free
Crumpling your body
With a swift falling tree

A skeleton hand
I extend to you
A ghastly invitation
That is bleeding right through

Open the box
Peer inside
A severed finger
To jog the mind

Did you remember
To R.S.V.P.
Or will you rest in peace
In the ossuary?

I hope you’ll attend
In the grimist of fashion
A celebration of sorts
In my haunted mansion

Let the festivities begin…

Escape your tombs
Inhabit the halls
Hang arachnids
From all the walls

Ghosts are placed
In every room
Witches shaking
Dust from brooms

Cauldrons baste
Upon the fire
Warlocks soar
Higher, higher

Sorcerers mix
Potions and spells
Poltergeists haunt
Banshees scream out

Large black cats
Crossing paths
New life again
The dead shall have

Werewolves transform
Howls from lips
Vampires arise
From velvet crypts

Pumpkins carved
A sinister face
Every ghoul
Is in its place

Mummies stir
In pyramids
At ancient tombs
Move coffin lids

Famished rats
Scurry about
Cornfield scarecrows
Escape, breakout

Gargoyles awaken
Regain sight
Fill the air
With fevered flight

Primeval sea beasts
Crawl ashore
Hobgoblins gather
On the moor

Slime bubbles up
From the mire
The air is alive
With funeral pyres

Six feet under
From out they dig
Rattling bones
Dance and jig

Spiders, scarabs
And centipedes too
Snakes and serpents
Right on cue

Will-O-Wisps dance
Suspended in fog
Phantoms play
On deserted bogs

Darkness swirls
Round and round
Evil carnivals
Come to town

Bats burst out
From granite caves
Vultures tread
On forgotten graves

Fairies and angels
Run and hide
Corpses and cadavers
Are along for the ride

Voodoo chants
Whispered on the breeze
Yellow full moon
Swirling dead autumn leaves

Headstones tremble
Black candles melt
All lost souls
Come out, come out

Bring a date
Even if they’re dead
Bring a friend
With or without their head

Scrub your skin
Inside and out
Polish dem’ bones
Get even the grout

Sharpen your fangs
Wake the deceased
Trim the claws
And ready the beast

All frightening creatures
Unite, unite
For it is the one and only
Halloween night

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The days crawl in and the years crawl out
Spreading an infection of contentment and doubt
Then in times of unrest, October drops in
To check up on the person you’ve become and see how you’ve been
A time when inanimate objects are methodically given a face
Fears are no longer concealed, but eagerly embraced
Dead leaves dance about with the scutter of insects
The air is alive with the burnt color of sunsets.
For a time, the heart commits mutiny and the brain gets locked in the hull.
A child awakens for the voyage and fears not the cold
For a few good weeks, reality is held at bay
Forced back by flood gates that could burst any day
Forget not, forget not, the person you once were
For the season will soon change and the tide will soon turn
From six feet under, to the top of your soul
In this one month a year, you will never grow old
You can still hear the laughter from a childhood lost
Even if the receptacle has been cleverly concealed by moss
Concentrate now, on that last dying flicker of flame
Don’t you dare let it go out, for you will never be the same
Take your hands, shield it, protect it from the wind
Breath life back into it with memories of forgotten whim
For in the months ahead, frost will creep into your bones
The child inside will be abandoned and left to fend on its own
So heed my warning and gleefully take my hand
Stay with me here forever in this most precious of lands
We shall never age a day or feel a sense of doubt
Isn’t that really what life is all about?

No more school
Summer is finally here
Now it’s off to boys camp
After a long boring year

With your bags all packed
Leave the parents behind
No homework, no chores
It’s time to unwind

Hike through the trails
Swim in the lakes
Awaken every morning
To the smell of hot cakes

While waiting in line
At the archery range
You spot a lizard
And a chase is engaged

Into the dry brush
You quickly follow
Suddenly a camper
Releases his longbow

Far from the bull’s-eye
He’ll soon feel remorse
You’ve been stuck in the head
By an arrow off course

There is nothing better
When your legs start to hurt
Than sitting in your recliner
After a day of hard work

A beer in one hand
Cigarette in the other
The television flickers
As sleep begins to smother

Your muscles unwind
Rapid heart beat slows down
Breath becomes shallow
Now only blackness surrounds

Your cold beverage spirals
To the carpet below
Followed by your cancer stick
And a flame begins to grow

It starts with the rug
Then moves toward the chair
Ignites your clothing
Then your body hair

You awaken much too late
In this situation most dire
Just to scream out loud
While you are consumed by fire

Is it wrong,
To have a corpse in my bed?
I do not think so,
Even if she is dead.

I do not think it is disturbing,
I do not think it is a crime.
Even though she has been expired,
for quite some time.

My friends all think,
That I am slightly off.
Behind my back,
They snicker and scoff.

They could never,
Understand our love.
Like two peas in a pod,
Or severed hand in glove.

She is so dainty,
So sweet, so demure.
She is the lighthouse,
Which keeps me from running Ashore

Every second away,
Is excruciating and vile.
I rush home just to glimpse,
Her gleaming smile.

She catches my fancy,
No matter what they think.
Her eyes are bottomless wells,
That never seem to blink.

My heart beats for her,
Hers beats for no one else.
She never complains,
Her breath is quiet like a mouse.

We always converse,
Late Into the night.
Never an argument,
Never a fight.

Each morning we awaken,
With the sun on our face.
Everything is in order,
Everything in its place.

My only complaint,
Is the perfume she wears.
A cross between spoiled milk,
Moldy bread, and rotten pears.

Sometimes people ask,
Why don’t I sleep in a different room.
Mine would be the master suite,
Hers a dark solitary tomb.

But I could never do that,
To my one and only soul mate.
I will lie beside her,
Until I suffer the same fate.

I just could not bring myself,
To let her repose underground.
A feast for worms,
Inside her burial mound.

Not once have I thought,
Of ever leaving her side.
Even though it’s been years,
Since she unfortunately died.

I am not scared,
I just don’t want to be alone.
Even if she is
Just skin and bone.

So let me reiterate,
To earlier what was said.
Is it really that wrong,
To have a corpse in my bed?

Leaves begin to die and fall from the trees,
Leaving them bare and lifeless.
Don’t let this fool you,
It’s really just a rebirth.
A strange breeze begins.
It’s not the hot breeze of summer,
Nor the cold breeze of winter,
But something in-between.
A perfect combination of two drastically different worlds.
The calm before the storm,
Like standing in the eye of a hurricane.
Everything is quiet and still.
Something beautifully sinister is brewing.
The closer it gets, the more noticeable it becomes.
The scent of burning candles and pumpkins,
Of moldering earth and cloves.
A curious electricity courses through your bones,
Laps at your skin and swims through your veins.
Like stumbling upon a long-forgotten place, hidden away for eons.
Like witnessing a secret event from the past, held in secrecy.
Everywhere you turn, you see sights not meant for the living.
Ghosts float about the darkness.
Skeletons dance among the swirling leaves.
Witches ride the fiery night sky.
Shadows take on a life of their own.
Vampires arise and thirst for a meeting.
Werewolves transform and stalk in the moonlight.
Pumpkins grow a sinister face and join the living.
It’s magic.
In its purest form.
Most people don’t seem to realize it anymore,
Long ago shutting off that little part of them that recognized it,
That sixth sense for the unimaginable,
Carelessly discarding their wonderment and whimsy.
But Be warned.
Once it dies, it can never be resurrected.
No wizardry, spells, or enchanted elixirs can bring it back.
So STOP!
Pay Attention.
Are you one of the blessed few who can still sense it.?
Is there any ounce of that part of you left?
A dying root, you can nurse back to health before its extinction?
It might not be too late for you.
It’s most powerful at night.
I dare you to seek it out
Wait until the bewitching hour,
Midnight,
When the veil is the thinnest.
Go out to a place where the earth is untamed,
Out in the middle of nowhere,
Where dark, really means dark.
Away from the city lights, honking horns, and constant chattering.
Once you find this place,
Sit there and wait.
Don’t look for it,
It will come to you.

What if life came with a strategy guide?
What if life had a pause button?
What if life were as easy as passing the first level?
What if life had a restart button?
What if life had cheats codes?
What if life had an eject button?
What if life gave you continues?
What if life gave you instant gratification?
What if life had free lives available around every corner?
What if life were like Nintendo?
Then what would you do?

Pitch black darkness.
Civilization off in the distance.
Winding mountain roads.
Unsure directions.
Unfamiliar surroundings.
Eerie moonlight.
Tricks played on the eyes.
Strange sounds.
It might just be wild animals.
It might be something much worse?
Howling breeze.
Movement up ahead.
Something stirs in the blackness.
A bump in the night.
Goosebumps.
Do you sit in the quiet,
Warm,
Familiar protection of your automobile?
Or do you get out
and meet it head on?
I get out.
Do you?