Halloween

Cold wind blowing fright

Reddening my cheeks

My trembling hands aching

Tucked in deep pockets

***

Breath billowing into the twilight air

Stomping feet on rain-soaked ground

Exhilaration spreading through

Expanded chest on fire

***

My favourite time of year has come

When the spirit world is closest

But a slither of light separates ghouls

From those of us still living

***

Halloween, once a time of fear

In centuries past

Now a time for Trick or Treat

Children filling streets en masse

***

Each house I pass with Jack O Lanterns

Scary faces carved lovingly

Candlelit with an amber glow

A sign of Halloween normalcy

***

In ancient Celtic Samhain

When ghosts haunted the earth

To little kids collecting candy

What a difference the passage of time makes

***

Bedsheets draped over tiny heads

With tiny hands appearing

To slip proffered delights from neighbours hands

Instead of giving them a frightening

***

Standing hand in hand, 

Ghouls, ghosts, and demons

Exclaiming in joy and wonder

As the fireworks go a hurtling

***

Then home to bed candy mouthed

When the feast is at an end

Safe at home with parents pleased

When the Samhain spirits descend