Halloween Octobers

California Octobers:

Memories of autumn leaves
crunching under
ghostly feet, witches' brooms
a punk rocker’s boots.
Parents trail hordes
of laughing children.

Washington Octobers:

Frozen nights, snow on
Jack-o-Lanterns.
Princesses and wizards
Dash from warm cars
To rural doorways
And back in a flash.

Oregon Octobers:

Now those tricksters
Treat other callers at
their own doorways.
Time passes by
and old costumes fade
in the cedar chest.


JP 10-24-2011