Notes About The Poem
10/1/2025 for Long Shadows Poetry Contest sponsored by Craig Cornish
Long Shadows of Halloween
Little brother, you're new to trick or treat and Halloween.
Mom says I must introduce you, so I'll describe the scene.
It's a scary night, and little children often wind up dead.
The danger is so great, even the sun hides his fiery head,
but just before he disappears in lily-livered fright,
long shadows announce, "soon begins the long and gory night".
Like I told you, power saws turn trees into gnarled stumps.
Dark outlines turn hunchback dwarves into giants with big humps.
Silhouettes lengthen, and they hideously portend
the gruesome ways in which young lives prematurely end.
Why would our mother want to send us out on All Hallow's Eve?
She would like to get rid of us, I can only believe.
In a week or two, she will forget both of our names.
She'll sell our baseball cards, remove our pictures from their frames,
and take a holiday in the islands of Tahiti.
'Twas ironic how she said, "have a good time, sweetie".
Your only concern is to hang on dearly to your life,
and avoid vampires, zombies and Jack the Ripper's knife.
When the goblins discover that you are on the loose,
they'll surely try to catch you and hang you with a noose.
Big brother, if by chance, they kill you, not me, on this stroll,
do you mind if I eat your candy corn and tootsie roll?
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