On Halloween a ghoul
Grab me from behind
Dragging me to the graveyard
Behind an old church as
I kicked and shouted
Two men suddenly appeared
And attacked it, while I
Ran for my life but when
I stopped and looked back
The men had strangely disappeared
Rumple Stein lit a single
flickering candle, casting
long, spooky shadows across
the cold stone walls.
"High upon the jagged cliffs
stands the forgotten castle of
Blackwood," he told the
shivering children.
"Inside its drafty halls roams
Grimtooth, an evil ghoul with
glowing green eyes and
razor- sharp claws."
The wind roared outside,
rattling the windows as if
Grimtooth himself were
trying to break inside.
He glides through the castle
dungeons, searching for
intruders who dare to touch
his cursed silver."
Suddenly, a low, scraping
sound echoed from the
fireplace, making the children
jump in terror.
"If he catches you, Rumple
Stein whispered, leaning
close, "he freezes you into a
solid stone statue!"
He mimicked a frozen face,
his arms locked stiffly in the
air, making the kids gasp
loudly.
"Only the bravest souls can
outsmart his traps and
escape the castle before the
morning sun."
With a sudden POOF, Rumple
Stein blew out the candle and
laughed, "Sleep tight, little statues!"
He was a loud spirit slinking down the hall
Haunting you hear it the loudest quiet talk
Neither friend nor foe just a void in the air
Seems to have been yet is definitely there
Stealing the air from the room like a tomb
His presence isn’t soothing nor should it doom
Sticking to the corners and avoiding light
More powerful there and in the bowels of night
Some say he was a soul from years ago
That a horrific tragedy torments his soul
Doing no harm in his dark pitiful form
He is like a ghoul devoid of any charm
Even this poor thing has a purpose
A cautionary tale told to serve us
graveyard ghoul was insanely weird to those who could see
Luckily, this only included my Aunt Amy and me
Others were not clairvoyant; they had no idea at all
this creepy ghoul was standing right next to that wall
his claws are creepy and his teeth are nasty said Aunt Amy Cup
I told her to shush, for I did not want to rile this creepy guy up
The graveyard ghoul gave me a nod but sneered in her direction.
I instinctively knew right away, this was not a sign of affection.
Betty Boop could not live forever, for naught
But this new version was a bit scary I thought
Her face was green, she had stitches too
I am a ghoul, she informed me, a bit of a boo
Never having met a ghoul before,
I turned and ran outside, straight out the door
She chased me up a hill and back two times
She smelled like lemons, mold, dirt and grimes
I did not stop running until I woke up with a gasp
Relieved that my time with Betty Boop Ghoul was past.
Never let Death hold your hand,
My mother used to say.
He'll promise you time's sands
While slipping lethargy into your veins.
His nails will seem of luminous silver,
His teeth of polished jewels.
But when observed without night's cover,
They'll reveal themselves blanch as ghouls.
So should he ever fill your eye,
Or reside beneath your ear,
Best you heed him no free mind
While praying to nether he disappear.
I'm vain.
I thought myself as great but then,
What of all the disdain?
They are saying different truths than what I believe to be true,
What does that mean?
Your truth burn away my flesh, burn up my soul.
Nobody matters to me anymore
Forgive me, I've become a heartless ghoul.
Fury of cage,
Forbade him from rage.
For he knew he was in pain,
Which gave him joy from the sorrowest gains.
Deemed to be horrid,
Demise from torrid.
He was slandered,
For the world’s a foul stage.
Scowled, dreaded, hated,
For the lack of unamounted goal.
Jokes, what happens to you’re bowl,
When you chose to find beauty in horrid ghouls.
All you’ll taste is, are the fouls you’ve committed.
I am a sorrowful ghoul,
With a tear in my eye that refuses to fall,
A hollow stomach thirsting for life,
But a soulless body, full and satisfied...
breek n brare
along a carpeted hall
bax n goolin oft is a ghoul
betrackeding down a creakeding stair
trumble n frumble n deatheding fall
generous Gus, Greystone’s glaringly green goblin glided into the glades.
giving Ginny Graceful, a gruesome ghoul a glimpse of glorious shades.
gary, Gryffindor’s ghost glared at them; for where was his grubby gratuity?
goblin and ghost, goaded Gary, giving him grief about Glue city.
grandiose grisly girl-free graphic arts gleefully featured the grimy three.
Gladly giving grotesque features in the glade’s next grimy graphic glossy.
the wind blew in from the west, I felt it in my breast.
colder than the wind from the east, like a witch’s kiss.
Hallows Eve! A jack-o-lantern lisped, it sounded like a hiss.
She is on her way, whispered another, maybe Godmother.
Queen gray cat, a ghoul more dangerous than a black one
Mother of October sky who would annihilate the night’s fun.
She is coming! An oak tree warned, hiding the leaf he had left.
Gray Cat arrived on the back of a wildebeest named Cleft.
It was as if the night had gone black, the stars were gone.
Moon was hiding, right? Asked my cousin Shawn.
Let me finish, I urged her, it’s my turn to speak.
But she had to ruin my story by interrupting at its peak.
steering blatant revelries, ghouls engaged to death
chomping down streetlight openings in bitter stone
bow walled yew tree drifters, steps of many feet in
shallow parade to pew, the kneel cushion's betrayal
- how the shadowless crave… and the headless sing
You stare into your upside-down top hat,
gaze at thoughts kept there
as you peer within that weird cavity
like Alice gazing into a rabbit hole.
Do you see a fantasy world in that magic hole?
That weird stuff appears so real to you
in that top hat where thoughts and dreams accrue
as if in a gap in the ground, a magic pit, dear Alice?
Or is that dream a giddy glimpse of your strange self?
Are you an Alice looking down a hole, though gazing at a ghoul
that goggles back like something
that peers purposefully from a distorted mirror?
(27 Jul 2023)
Pumpkin party was in full swing
the ghosts and ghouls began to sing
they sang off key
it tickled me
as I danced ‘round the witches’ ring.
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