[Juniper]

Just Dress Up One More Year

I don’t know how I feel about it.
Halloween is easier when children are small,
When all they care about is candy
And playing dress up.
Grinning pumpkins – think of the way they smell
As the candle scorches their skin!
Somewhere a bonfire burns.
The street’s lit up
Like a big block party
That goes on for miles.
Please, just one more house!
Mom, would you carry this for me?
Mom, would you carry me?

It’s easier then.
When children are young
We’re young too –
What do we know of death?
But age plays tricks.
Somewhere there’s a plaque
Or a stone with a too-familiar name.
Maybe more than one.
When the chill wind blows
And the dry tree limbs creak
The ghosts are all too real.
The skulls aren’t plastic
But frames that once held flesh you kissed.

We smile anyway.
We put on clown makeup, or sew ears and a tail
And try to keep our little ghouls
Unbloodied and sweet
Just one more year.