During the Halloween costume party
as boisterous as a long-ago Beatles concert
(there are three brothers
and their young sister
dressed as the Fab Four)
the prizes being handed out
by a hunchback
wearing a superhero cape.
Third prize:
the man dressed as a barking dog
his voice almost gone…
second prize:
the woman attired as Lizzie Borden—
a real axe, how could she bring a real axe?
the costume-contest judge wonders
as the tension builds.
I should point out
I’m dressed as Irony
surely worthy of a prize
or at least a complimentary drink
but I’m dismissed
as an interloper without style
and pushed back into my thoughts.
The only one without a costume
alluring as a lustful dream
sits serenely in the centre
of the envy and activity
at least three of the costumed
asking the costumeless one for a kiss
(a slight debate if the person
is a man or a woman—
give me the first prize
and I’ll tell you)
but amidst the boos and hisses
the boisterousness turns sour
as an inaccurate night
the costumeless one victorious
as the axe comes down.
Canadian poet, fiction writer, and playwright J. J. Steinfeld lives on Prince Edward Island, where he is patiently waiting for Godot’s arrival and a phone call from Kafka. While waiting, he has published 25 books, including An Unauthorized Biography of Being (Stories, Ekstasis Editions, 2016), Absurdity, Woe Is Me, Glory Be (Poetry, Guernica Editions, 2017), A Visit to the Kafka Café (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2018), Gregor Samsa Was Never in The Beatles (Stories, Ekstasis Editions, 2019), Morning Bafflement and Timeless Puzzlement (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2020), Somewhat Absurd, Somehow Existential (Poetry, Guernica Editions, 2021), Acting on the Island (Stories, Pottersfield Press, 2022), As You Continue to Wait (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2022), and My Post-Holocaust Second Generation Voice: History / Memory / Identity (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2025).
Published 10/30/25