Tricksters Take Back Halloween

By Gary Davis

“here’s full-bodied treats
fresh for your Halloween sack”
from Jack the Ripper

gorgeous black widow
shapeshifted last Halloween
ate eight men at once

cackling peters out
the witches all disappear
record plump pumpkins!

three old sweet-tooth hags
slice, dice, sugar-coat husbands
next year’s candy corn

the Devil complains
“my garden is so noisy”
witch-head pumpkin patch

lean head on gnarled oak
I catch a shrill whistling breeze
or dead men’s whispers

stole the kids’ candy
sugar-high witches fly home
disappear in space


Gary Davis enjoys exercising his imagination through crafting dark or darkly humorous haiku and other forms of poetry. He finds haiku, in particular, both challenging and fun. Mr. Davis has published haiku in Tales from the Moonlit PathScifaikuest, Star*Line, and a Lester Smith Halloween anthology (2016-2020). He has published other poetry in Tales of the TalismanBloodbondIllumen and a sci-fi anthology, Kepler’s Cowboys (2014-2019). Mr. Davis loves all things classic horror; he grew up on Dr. Acula’s Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine years ago. He has three spooky Halloween tales in Frostfire Worlds (2016-2019).

Published 10/29/20

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