Pariah

Hiya, Pariah! How ya been?
Good to see you unclearly again.
We missed you, and missing you is the key
To gladness and geniality.
Now, pardon me as I turn aside,
As your countenance acts like cyanide
On my visual cortex; there's no surer
Deterrent to conversation, or purer.
Say, Marvin, have you noticed the chill
That's penetrating our flesh like a drill?
It's almost as if a negative star
Is sending out waves of ice-cold tar,
An inverse sun absorbing heat,
Frostbiting fingers, toes, and feet.
Winter comes early, I guess, to this tavern--
Our cozy inn's rimed like a glacial cavern.
You're shivering, Marvin! You're trembling, Hal!
What's the prob? Got a glimpse of a goblin, pal?
A lich or a gossamer specter, perhaps?
A mummy you'd rather keep under wraps?
O hell, it's nothing. Only a shadow
Cast by a lusterless desperado.
Already the clouds are parting, and soon
The warmth will return, the flux of high noon
Will drive away the cadaverous grouch;
There he goes, out the rear door in a slouch.