Near Hallowe’en, routine tension sets in.
Expected entertainment, catering,
Décor: a bachelor like Dracula
Tries to outdo last year’s event— though some
Attended by mistake and won’t return.
Tradition dictates hospitality’s
Essential to his kind. Longevity
Must be preserved. Drinks are but one concern.
His entourage deserves to be amused.
Instead of necks turned red as after-birth,
Refreshments can be served by a blood bank,
Thanks to a generous donation made.
Exquisite concentration on details
Is a tourniquet for his unquiet mind,
Obsessed with real estate, castle upkeep,
Demands imposed by vamphood’s life-in-death.
His party plans completed, its checklist ticked,
The Transylvanian lord licked his lips,
Succumbed to tempting pleasure-crested pricks.
Native New Yorker LindaAnn LoSchiavo, a four time nominee for The Pushcart Prize, is a member of SFPA, British Fantasy Society, and The Dramatists Guild.
Her books include: Elgin Award winner A Route Obscure and Lonely, Women Who Were Warned, Messengers of the Macabre: Hallowe’en Poems [co-written with SFPA poet David Davies], Apprenticed to the Night [UniVerse Press, 2023], and Felones de Se: Poems about Suicide [Ukiyoto, 2023].
An October Scorpio, she is seeking publication for Always Haunted: Hallowe’en Poems and Vampire Ventures.
Published 10/31/23
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