Cute 'n Spooky

Here are two poems that seem appropriate for Halloween. The first is my own, one of the first I ever sold. The online magazine is now defunct, but the poem is cute. The second one has been around for quite a while and is much more disturbing. The language isn’t what we’d use so much anymore, but the creator tars everyone with the same brush. It’s a cautionary tale and sets a mood. Let me know what you think. 

Halloween Things

By Susan Sundwall

These are the things of Halloween

A ghost, a witch and Frankenstein green

A pumpkin, a bat and a bushy tailed cat

Big brother Tom in his old wizard hat

Knocking at doorsteps all down the street

to fill up our bags with good things to eat

Hey, there’s Billy Taylor dressed like a ghost

Stuffed full of pillows, he’s fatter than most

We’re lucky we didn’t see Sally Ann Green

They say that she’s really a vampire queen

A night full of laughter, thrills, chills and pleasure

‘Til we drag ourselves home and lay out our treasure

It’s spooky and silly and great gobs of fun

Oh how I hate to see Halloween done 

THE HELL BOUND TRAIN

A Texas cowboy lay down on a barroom floor,
 Having drunk so much he could drink no more;
 So he fell asleep with a troubled brain
 To dream that he rode on a hell-bound train.

The engine with murderous blood was damp
 And was brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp;
 An imp, for fuel, was shoveling bones,
 While the furnace rang with a thousand groans.

The boiler was filled with lager beer
 And the devil himself was the engineer;
 The passengers were a most motley crew-
 Church member, atheist, Gentile, and Jew,

Rich men in broad cloth, beggars in rags,
 Handsome young ladies, and withered old hags,
 Yellow and black men, red, brown, and white,
 All chained together-O God, what a sight!

While the train rushed on at an awful pace-
 The sulphurous fumes scorched their hands and face;
 Wider and wider the country grew,
 As faster and faster the engine flew.
 Louder and louder the thunder crashed
 And brighter and brighter the lightning flashed;
Hotter and hotter the air became
 Till the clothes were burned from each quivering frame.

 And out of the distance there arose a yell,
 "Ha, ha," said the devil, "we're nearing hell"
Then oh, how the passengers all shrieked with pain
 And begged the devil to stop the train.
 But he capered about and danced for glee,
 And laughed and joked at their misery.
 "My faithful friends, you have done the work
 And the devil never can a payday shirk.

 "You've bullied the weak, you've robbed the poor,
 The starving brother you've turned from the door;
 You've laid up gold where the canker rust,
 And have given free vent to your beastly lust.
 "You've justice scorned, and corruption sown,
 And trampled the laws of nature down.
 You have drunk, rioted, cheated, plundered, and lied,
And mocked at God in your hell-born pride.

 "You have paid full fare, so I'll carry you through,
 For it's only right you should have your due.
 Why, the laborer always expects his hire,
So I'll land you safe in the lake of fire,

"Where your flesh will waste in the flames that roar,
 And my imps torment you forevermore."
 Then the cowboy awoke with an anguished cry,
 His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high.

 Then he prayed as he never had prayed till that hour
 To be saved from his sin and the demon's power;
 And his prayers and his vows were not in vain,
For he never rode the hell-bound train.

-Anonymous

Image: Salvatore Vuono                                              Free Digital Photos