Here lies Halloween. We knew her very well. You buried her at half past four... Before we rang the bell. We used to wait for porch lights, For the sun to disappear, For something underneath the hedge To whisper, “Over here.” A pillowcase against our knees, Dead leaves beneath our shoes, A hundred doors, a hundred chances, Something there to lose. Now paint a stripe across our cheeks And put us in a line. The ghosts are due at half past two. We're home before suppertime. Who took the dark? Who took the dare? Who told the thing beneath the stairs It wasn't welcome anywhere? You buried Halloween, But didn't dig it deep. You tucked her in beneath the cars And told her, “Go to sleep.” No trick behind the promise, No shiver in the treat. Just candy in a parking lot And ghosts with aching feet. Ding-dong. Nobody. Ding-dong. Run. We haven't even started... And you say we're done. A plastic bat on someone's trunk, A spider on a Jeep, We shuffle through a crowd of knees Like very spooky sheep. Your open hatch, your folding chair, Your bowl of little sweets. We haven't knocked on one damn door. We haven't walked our streets. No finger reaching for the bell, No giggles as we flee. No grown-up crouching in a bush To scare the life from me. We liked the scream! We liked the chase! We liked to find a kindly face Behind the monster in that place! You buried Halloween In rows of painted white. You gave us bags of little sweets And took away the night. No tricks, just “Take a piece, dear.” No treats we had to seek. You made the strangest night of all Another day this week. Our masks are getting sweaty. The sky is still so blue. That skeleton beside your car Looks bored to death of you. The witch has packed her table. The vampire's on his phone. Somebody calls it “Wonderful!” Somebody takes us home. We watch the windows darken From the backseat, passing by. At last the night is ready... And nobody's outside. You can have the parking spaces. You can have the queue. You can keep the cardboard coffin. We found something new. There's a gate behind the houses. There's a path behind the gate. There's a porch light in the distance. There's somebody up late. They said they'd missed the children. They said to bring our friends. They said that down their little street... The evening never ends. You buried Halloween. We heard her underneath. We pulled her from the parking lot. She's still got all her teeth. She took us past the streetlights. She taught us where to hide. Now something's moving in your hedge... You'd better come outside. Here comes Halloween. We know her very well. Turn off the porch light if you like... We learned to ring the bell.
