Fall brings Full Moon
Raggedy Ann keeps distance
Halloween is here
Be smart … stay safe!
Happy Halloween
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
Halloween
Trick or Treat
Beware the Troll
Beware of the long-haired Old Troll who lives under the bridge, and frightens Trick or Treaters as they cross on Halloween night. Still feeling sore from Big Billy Goat’s but in the butt, he hides away picking on little children when their candy bags are full. As they trip trap across his bridge on the their way home, he rises from the shadows and snatches their candy. He does not care that they run off crying all the way home. Being an old mumble grumble troll, it will take more than candy to sweeten him up. So warn your children on Halloween night to stay away from Sleep Hollow, and the Old Trolls bridge, if they want to keep their sweets!
Hunter’s full moon shines
Ghosts and Goblins come knocking
Watch out for the Troll
Frank at d’Verse told us to write a Halloween Haibun. He said we could even write a fiction prose to go with it. So that is what I did. One for the Kiddos young and old. Enjoy!
Join us at: https://dversepoets.com Click on the Mr. Linkey box to read more…
Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Halloween Pranks (flash fiction)
The following story is a mixture of truth and fiction. It was accepted to be in the upcoming Old Mountain Press anthology, Happy Holidays. This is a collection of poetry and prose from many significant contributors. Col (Ret.) Tom Davis is the publisher. He has written several books, and puts out poetry and prose anthologies three times a year. I have my works in several of them. Information about the website is at the end of this post. You can check out all of his E-books on Amazon Kindle.
Halloween Pranks
Dwight L. Roth
When I was in the fourth grade, the school I attended did not have indoor toilets! Behind our classroom building were three outhouses: a small one with a green door for the three lady teachers, a little larger two-hole one for the girls, and a similar one for the boys. The boys’ toilet had an L-shaped fence wall around it with a trough in the back where we could stand up and pee! We enjoyed seeing who could get their stream the highest on the wall!
You might wonder how Halloween and outhouses go together. Well, I heard tales of what teenagers do on Halloween; things like scaring little kids, stealing their candy, or throwing rotten eggs at people’s houses or cars! Those tales kept us only going to our neighbors and to people we knew! Unfortunately, that isn’t all teenagers do.
In the Fall of 1957, my friends I were excited to go trick-or-treating with our older siblings. A full moon shone down on us as we walked down our country road knocking on our neighbors’ doors. But, at the edge of town, where we went to school, more sinister actions were going on in the moon light!
The next morning, I arrived at school to a flurry of excitement. Children on the playground talked excitedly to one another, pointing to the back of the school. I soon found out what the excitement was all about. On Halloween night, some of the teenage boys pushed over the teacher’s toilet! As we, took our breaks during the day I looked in amazement at the little toilet with the green door lying there on its back.
In a day or two, the school maintenance men came and got it set back upright. I wondered how the teachers felt, having to use the girls’ toilet. They never did find out who tipped it over.
Check out Old Mountain Press here: http://www.oldmp.com/e-book/#author
Out House Clip Art: https://i.pinimg.com
Boo!
On the road to the Black Forest in Germany people seem to be celebrating Halloween all year round. They had their hedges and bushes trimmed with fun faces of ghosts and goblins. It could be very scary for little kids trick or treating on Halloween night!
Black Forest Faces
Halloween spooks all year round
Strange spectors say, “Boo!”
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Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Frank Tassone asked us to write our Haikai poem today based on the tradition of Halloween. Last summer we saw these odd faces as we traveled through the Black Forest of Germany. I decided to write my poem about them.
All Tricks
What happens when your teeth fall out? This afternoon I sat down to take a break with a cookie and a glass of tea. On the last bite one of my front caps popped off leaving me looking pretty scary. On Monday, I will see if my dentist can glue it back on before Halloween makes it permanent!! It is either laugh or cry, so for Frank Tassone’s Haikai today, it’s a Renga that hopefully will make you smile instead of cry!
All sad tricks today
Halloween came too early
Makes my dentist smile
Chewing cookies with cap apps
Made me a jack-o-lantern
Perhaps I should wait
Till the children come by
Give them a big smile
Making it a real fright night
No need to buy a pumpkin
With that toothless smile
Perhaps my candy will last
‘Till the last one screams
Running frightened down the street
More candy for me to eat
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To rot out more teeth!!
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Selfie Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Join us at: https://frankjtassone.com/2018/10/27/haikai-challenge-58-10-27-18-halloween-or-samhain-haiku-senryu-haibun-tanka-haiga-renga/
Ichabod
Halloween is a holiday of conflicting views. Some see it as evil and want no part of it. For kids it is a fun time to dress up in costumes and go door to door collecting treats and being frightened by imaginary ghosts.
Many of us remember Washington Irving’s story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow. During the past presidential campaign I wrote this prophetic poem about the race that was taking place. While everyone was writing Trump off, I thought their message of his demise was very premature. As we all know my prophesy turned out to be true.
The Headless Horseman of the Apocalypse
Riding through the dark night of the soul
Comes a headless horseman on a silver steed
Snorting fire and ashes he rides with great speed
No one can stop the galloping Spector
No one dare be so bold
As the ghastly night round him grows cold
Not Donkey nor Elephant, not Fox nor Hound
He defies all those who would slow him down
Many have tried and many have failed
Some have screamed and some have yelled
But nothing can stop the apocalyptic wail
Out of the swamp through the fog of night
Rides the Headless Horseman of the Apocalypse
Leaving all in a fright and some in delight
He comes charging the bridge in full moonlight
Not a myth not a tale nor a short lived wail
Will rise up to challenge with ghastly pale
The pending disaster that rides on his tail
In the morning sun he’ll surely be restricted
His demise not true as many souls predicted
He’s here for now and he’ll be for a spell
This wild man with no head has tales to tell
The powers tried to slow him down
As he rode in that midnight hour
But the pumpkin wielding warrior
Simply brought scare and horror
To politicians and voters far and wide
Bringing chaos and confusion
Now all is lost the pumpkin is cast
He won’t stop till that last bridge is crossed
Leaving the frightened and scared in his wake
Riding full speed ahead into the dark night
The deal at the crossroad is sealed
Things will never again be the same
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Photo: Dwight L. Roth
October Moon
October moon casts eerie shadows as it passes through the trees
Ghostlike silhouettes appear as changing leaves blow in the breeze
A prelude of things to come as days creep on to Halloween night
When little boys and girls will scream with fright
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Photo: Dwight L. Roth
