Halloween

A poem about loving and losing and remembering and healing. More specifically about that loss of innocence that comes from the death of a loved one.

The maple tree across the street

has turned the color of the pumpkin

that sits on our front stoop,

faceless.

Because that was always your job,

and it didn’t feel right

to carve it without you.

 

Out the window, I see

Batman chasing Buzz Lightyear

to infinity and beyond.

Belle and Snow White

skip down the street,

their mothers following close behind.

 

A knock at the door

makes me jump.

Grabbing the bowl

of king-size candy bars,

I pull it open

and do a double take.

A teenage James Bond

looks back at me and smiles.

 

I remember the year

you took me around the neighborhood

dressed as 007.

You wore Dad’s suit,

which was two sizes too big.

I went as Glinda the Good Witch

although, really,

I was just a munchkin.

 

I stick an extra Kit-Kat

in the boy’s dark blue pillow case.

They were your favorite.

Reviews

[Sel Whiteley]

Again, outstanding. The characterisation is superb, the scene is filmic due to your painstaking attention to fine detail. The narrative is told expertly and is thick with suspense, the bereavement palpable.

[Emily B]

gentle words, expertly drawn on the page, I'm looking forward to reading more of your work

[Lourisa]

I like the imagery of this piece. It is written in such a gentle, bittersweet way.