By Daniel Paiz

It’s that time of year again when the leaves are changing and falling, the air gets crisper and colder, and things feel different. This is a time of year where one recalls that shifts happen, life results in death, and the future is much closer than realized (a new year looms!). I appreciate both Halloween and Fall for these reasons, and because it seems like there are certain stories now that are more enjoyable to encounter.

Spooky tales abound, along with some over the top gore and stress-inducing suspense. Platitudes abound in setting up a poem, and generalizations do too. I haven’t written a lot of spooky stuff, although from time to time there’s been attempts. Another such attempt is being made; successful or not, the point is the try, not the result.

Fallish Halloween

winds rush past trees seeking an escape.

an exit strategy from the depths of the forest,

leaves rattle,

observing the great exodus,

awaiting a fate they never believed,

especially after such colorful transformations.

A wretched stench extends from the neck,

beast or human it is unknown.

weapons gliding against flame,

there is no place one can now go.

no scientist, no practitioner of ancient texts

has arisen this fateful creation of hair and scales.

This riddled with hides compacted into one,

being perceived to be wild.

Cthulhu to the Brothers Grimm will admit,

this isn’t a concoction from their world,

from their minds, or of their doing.

no one amongst the heavens would’ve dreamed

of such nightmarish images put forth here.

creep carefully into the cage of the being,

just beyond the light,

past the cavernous ruins and

damp pillars lining a worrisome pathway.

steel thyself before entering into such a chasm,

where light has departed long ago.

Look upon the darkest patch before thee,

and behold.

Alas, fear surrounds you.