13 Halloween Dead

#1

Here lie the bones
Of old Bob Jones
He fancied the lass of McCoy
A man he had known since a boy
So McCoy crushed his skull with some stones

#2

A little light flickered
Far into the night
Like an autumnal firefly
Or a faerie's torchlight

I followed very far
To see where it would lead
And though the trees whispered not to
Their warnings I failed to heed

Its glow was orange and warm
Inside a pumpkin's perfect teeth
A blazing sword so razor sharp
Inside my heart's cold sheath

A subtle hint of salty air
The soft sigh of crashing waves
The thick black quiet of still church bells
A soft brown crunch of leaves on graves

These I did pass through in vain
For lantern's light above the briny water
All I could think was the ocean's thoughts
Cold Atlantic's claim 'I got her’

#3

Love's ache cuts ragged
Teeth into a heart that's chewed
As the wolf pack feasts

#4

Let them find me here
In this heartless black forest
Bones picked clean by beasts

#5

Orb weaver spiders
Thread their webs
In the light of the moon

The center of these silky homes
Is like an eye peering
Out of darkness

Pale luna its bright pupil
And the spider she welcomes
Her guests with an endless hunger

Checking them in
Checking them out

The poor victim here
One Jack Lowe
An arachnophobe
Of fine distinction

Didn't notice the orb
Weaver's web until
It had already clung to his face
Like cotton candy around fingertips

And so in the light of
The full moon and in
The wake of his cruelest
Surprise

He tumbled down the steps
Of his front porch
Skull split like a rotten egg
On this rock here

No longer an ornamental
Artifact of this rather tidy
Garden but now an instrument
Of the orb weaver's doom

#6

We are shuffling corpses
Walking through the
Trenches like mindless dead

Shuffling ankle deep
In mud and blood
Waiting for the next charge

Toward a faceless enemy
Listening for the sergeant's
Whistle like a hollow scream

I have fought for over
Two years, witnessed friends
Cut by bullets like scissors

One day I stood
Before a mirror
Its surface

A spider's web
Cracked by a
Rifle's ricochet

I shaved by the
Light of a lantern
And the lonely moon

Artillery sounded like
Heartbeats in the night
Thudding angrily

My reflection looked
Like a skull
Hollow eyes pale skin

Teeth in a rigid smile
My razor scraped against
Bone it was hideous

Fright grew vines
Around my brain
So ugly was my face

Then I heard the deadly
Whistle of a shell that found
Me and I exploded

Violently that October night
Now I hover as a ghost
Above Flanders see the

Crater painted red by
My blood and pray
Heaven takes me soon

#7

Every room
In this house
Is haunted
I swear it

Each creaking
Floor board
Is a moan
Of the damned

And the wind
That shakes the windows
Is like a prisoner pounding
The doors to be let out

I heard the stories
Before they hired me
But the money was
Too damned good

It doesn't really
Make up for that
Heavy terror
Sinking into my gut

Three messy deaths
Well over a hundred
Years ago now

A murder, a lynching, a suicide
Call it a lover's
Quarrel, I guess
That's how they
Handled things back then

But those crimes
Left more than
Bloodstains in
The carpet

So now I get
To work, the light
Of a votive candle
To smother the darkness

And enough
Whiskey to drink
Before bed time to
Smother my dreams

#8

Even if everyone
Else has given up
I haven't

Whether we're
Looking for a
Body or a person

Any more it
Doesn't matter
To me

I only want
Certainty a dreaded
Finality

To crush the
Terrible power
Of my nightmares

Even one single
Blonde hair
Would be enough

If I knew

That it were yours

#9

Now it doesn't
Even matter
How many times
I heard the soft
Click of a seat belt

Or that I never
Fell to the temptation
To text you back
While I was driving
To your apartment

At 30,000 feet
Nothing can save
You when the
Engines fail, oxygen
Masks flailing like
Limbs from the canopy

At first my stomach
Lurched like I was
On a roller coaster
But then it caught
Up to me in free fall

I can only hope
I don't feel the impact
When I become one
More greasy spot
Upon the mountain

#10

Deondre wore
A pirate's costume
That Halloween night

Made up in a
Black vest
A billowing white shirt
Skull and crossbones
On a night that was
Entirely too prescient

I think of the
Last time I
Saw him smile

The joy in his
Eyes shattered by
The WOOP WOOP
Of the police car
And the flashing of its sirens

It didn't matter
That the pistol
On his hip
Was molded plastic
Tipped with orange
And a vintage
Centuries old

He shot him any way
Shielded by his fear
One more casualty
In an undeclared war

#11

Every aching moment
Digs its claws
Into me

A psychic pain
That clothes me
In a dull numbness

The paradox
Of feeling and unfeeling
I'm so lonely

In a sea
Of people
Cut off from

Everyone
And my mind
Wanders too

So many
Dark places
Like bleeding out

In a warm bathtub
Hanging where the
Right person

Can find me
So many possibilities
I just need to

Find the right one
And commit

#12

Alexander inspects
The creature through
Four inches of
Hardened glass

An incredible specimen
It floats in a
Nutrititive suspension
Like so much
Amniotic fluid

Iridescent scales
Like a mallard's
Green feathers
Hands and feet webbed

Lipless mouth
Fanged
in a tight grimace
Shining black eyes
Translucent lids
Only for feeding

Two arms, two legs
A hardened torso
Maybe a soul inside
But it matters not

Another round of trials
Today's pain tolerance
Oxygen levels within
The lab's cool atmosphere

The creature's fist
Smacks with a thud
Alexander smiles
At its fierce spirit

Then a spider web
Appears in the glass
And begins to grow
Alexander reaches for
The control panel

To deliver the electric
Shock meant to subdue
Like the overseer's whip
But then the tank shatters

And the only thing
That touches the
Alarm is a
Splatter of blood

#13

Death comes for
Us all and if
We are lucky
When we are very old

Surrounded by the
Ones who love us
Spirits of our
Ancestors waiting
To take us on our
Last great adventure

Through a tunnel
Of light seeing every
Moment of our lives
In just an instant

The end of a cycle
Karma earned
Lessons learned
Waiting to be
Reborn again

Banner image by Jack Scally