When I was a child, I loved Halloween — never had a birthday party, I didn’t want one because it was like asking for presents. It made me uncomfortable.
I did, however, have wonderful Halloween Costume parties. My friends and I looked forward to them for years, and ended the evening by going out ‘Trick or Treating’.
The following poem was written by my friend Hans Muller, who never minded creating new words if he felt like it.
Halloween’s last gasp
At the un-ghostly hour of five past eleven
Seven ghosts met in a chimney, seven
A chain-clatter, bone-black, a flaccid cadaver
They commenced a ghastly, sidereal palaver.
And the seventh ghost so spake to the others,
‘Why don’t we ghosts have fathers and mothers?’
From what manner of substance are we cleft
That of loving parents we are forever bereft?’
Despondently sighing they tell their chains:
‘It is half past eleven, half an hour remains.’
The fourth ghost answered him thus, the fourth,
‘Such a thing is not true of the ghosts of the north:
In fact, they have fathers and mothers galore
Four sets of each, at the utleast four.’
Pensively brooding, they gnaw their chains,
It’s a quarter of midnight, one quarter remains.
Up spake the sixth of the ghosts there assembled
And at his gruescent words they trembled.
Amorphously, voidly, they quantrify,
They’re fourfold invisible, fourfold awry.
Fourfold they quatrivide nothingness
By fourfolded, quantrivoid, sexless caress.
There’s horrified silence but for stifled groans,
Iced ectoplasm cloaks regified bones.
Frenzedly gasping, they devour their chains,
Sixty seconds till midnight, one minute remains.
For a moment they stare at each other in fright,
Then, suddenly, disenfleshed cheek bones turn bright.
Disenlipped mouths twist in jawous grins,
Spiderlike fingers slap calfless shins,
Into depths of boundless mirth they delve
As the church bell tolls a thundering twelve
And they all exclaim as with only one mouth:
‘We’re lucky to be the ghosts of the south.’
They vanish, regurgitating their chains,
It is twelve o’clock midnight and nothing remains.
What an imagination!! I know of Halloween only through books. What was your favourite costume then?
Whatever my sisters and I could manage to sew up by hand out of crepe paper. My mom didn’t sew, but she had other talents. Love, Muriel
Vincent Price would have loved it!
I so enjoyed Vincent Price movies. Did you ever see any? He was great and scary. Booooo! Love, Maughm
Yes, I certainly saw some! He was a great performer and a lovely man in real life.
That’s a really good poem. And I think that “utleast” should become an official word.
Indeed,,let us see how many readers vote for ‘utleast’ to be added to our everyday language. Chuckle. Enjoy the holiday. Cheers, Muriel
This picture of yours is so beautiful 😍
Which picture? The skeleton’s? Ha, ha. Thanks for reading. Cheers, Muriel
What a brilliant thought! I feel the spook in the air, all chilly… I have only known of Halloween through movies and my sister who is studying in the States. It is a festival worth celebrating.
You have some awesome papers in those drawers of yours! Keep sharing!
Love, Arnav
Yes, this poem written by my friend Hans WAS one of the treasures I found in my files. I’ll throw out others, but keep this one. Halloween is really fun. Boooooooo!
What a wonderful poem! One of my favourite things is making up words, but since English is my second language, people usually think that I am mispronouncing words and I hardly ever get a credit for it 🙂
I make up words all the time too, and since I do have friends for whom English is a second language, I am careful to tell them there is not really any such word. Ha, ha. Go ahead. Play with the language. Why not? Cheers, Muriel
Yeah, it never discouraged me, I just needed to explain more than a native speaker would 🙂
Good. I’m glad to know that both of us can continue playing with the language. Yeah! Enjoy!
Oh no. I can actually see your picture with a wide smile along with the other two.
It’s always a pleasure to read your works ❤️
Thanks so much. Sorry, I couldn’t resist being silly, of course I knew which photo you meant. It was taken by my beautiful daughter-in-law Chandra. Have fun each day if at all possible. Cheers, Muriel
Wow, that was quite a descriptive write – so rich with imagery and captured memories! We don’t have Halloween where we live but it’s beautiful to have experienced it through a poem. Have a lovely weekend ❤️
It was so much fun to go out after dark for ‘Trick or Treating’ when I was a child. I loved that holiday.
Thank you for reading. All the best, Muriel
Happy belated Halloween!
I love this particular holiday. Do they celebrate it where you live? Cheers, Muriel