Witch - Richard Fleming

Black shawled, she gathers sticks, views you aslant.
Her cat is black, it has an evil eye.
We tread an extra mile, though we are tired, to avoid her gate.
Our children, in their sleep, cry out in fear
while pregnant women shy away when she appears.
O’Riley cursed her in a drunken rage
and afterwards
his cattle ceased to milk, his horse fell down and died.
They say she rides a broom on summer nights
when shadows cross the moon like ravens’ wings.
Dark toads squat wetly on her windowsill
and croak the Devil’s name in foreign tongues.
No luck, no luck for us while she remains.
She must be gone, like others of her kind:
first by the ducking-stool and pins
while priests intone their cleansing Latin spells,
then by the fiery stake, where she will burn
and burn
and burn
and burn
and burn
and burn
and burn.

Richard Fleming

The Pumpkin Beast - Kathy Figueroa

Today's poem is a "Golden Oldie" and was originally published here in October 2012

In the blackest hours of Halloween night
Stir creatures that moan and wail
Such sounds can give a soul a fright
And cause your heart to fail

But there's one that makes the other bunch
Sound as innocent as a birdie's chirp
When it goes CRUNCH, CRUNCH
MUNCH, MUNCH, SLURP, SLURP ..BURP

"Oh, tell us, please, what is this beast?"
Hoarse, hushed whispers query
"On what does this monster feast
And make noises that are so scary?"

Listen carefully to what I say
Make sure my words you mark
Things transpire in a mysterious way
On Halloween, after dark

Behold yon pumpkin, with an eerie face
Lit by a candle from within
It's to keep bad spirits from that place
That's why it has a hideous grin

But people give nary a thought
That, inside, the pumpkin is being toasted
The candle flame burns so hot
The pumpkin becomes roasted

Certain epicureans of the quadruped kind
Esteem this squash 'cuisine'
And, in abundance, it's easy to find
On the night of Halloween

There's one with which I'm acquainted
That has a legendary appetite
And I nearly fainted
When I first saw the following sight

Only scraps of rind lay on the floor
The Pumpkin Beast had struck behind my back
And he was still looking around for more
After his initial snack attack

'El Perro Gordo de Paudash'
Is the name by which he's now known
And he'll choose pumpkin in a flash
Any day, instead of a bone

Kathy Figueroa

No if, just do - Tony Bradley

Don't worry about 'not fitting in' any place
for you, it would have been like a prison
you work better on your own, a wild card,
a loose cannon, or some other euphemism.

When the bright are young, they always get smothered
but some go on to create, if they manage to breathe
and if they get noticed, just look who's most bothered
it's those twisted smotherers, see the jealous seethe.

Probably born in the wrong time and place
characters like you will be slandered, abused
the mindless masses will close ranks and cluster
and, without thought or trial, hang the accused.

So sail your own boat, dude, do your own thing
they'll be things you can't change , or avoid
if you just try and impress yourself
those who put you down will be well annoyed.

Tony Bradley

Freezing - Tony Gardner

Fingers of coldness are creeping all over
Iciness eating the flesh off of me
A dog fox is barking outside in the darkness
Clouds are forbidding the Moon to break free
And all that I want is for Time to drop backwards
Back to the years when we tasted Life's wine
When all was a breathtaking, red-blooded exploit,
Not like this cold, bitter frost riven rime

Tony Gardner

The Wrath - Ian Duquemin

The crying wind blew up the hill
It dragged along a frozen chill
Bending trees with ease apart
Its destination was my heart
Hunting for its feeble prey
There was no place to hide away
The skies grew black when it was here...
To feed upon my fear
The whispers taunted "Let me in"
And lightening cracked a frightening grin
As here was I now all alone
Within this twilight zone
The chill crept in and covered me
Completely raped and savaged me
I gazed upon your photograph
And swear I heard you laugh

Ian Duquemin