
A Halloween Primer
Bloodcurdling screams of banshees and the moans of other specters
are signals to skirt graveyards and other creepy sectors.
Do not go close to water. La Llorona* lingers there.
Hobgoblins roam on Halloween. Please take extra care
that you aren’t impeded by your costume’s girth and weight
so just in case, you can maintain the proper speed and gait
to insure escaping witches, vampires, ghosts and ghouls
who inhabit Halloween and make up all the rules.
Heed well my past instructions of where you should not go.
Get home before the witching hour. These warnings you should know
lest you become another statistic of the night
set aside for horrors, for hauntings and for fright.
Halloween is filled with fun: the costumes, pumpkins, candy,
and if you heed my warnings, everything should turn out dandy.
Just stay away from witches of the authentic sort—
the kind with real black three-inch nails and a genuine wart.
Make sure the vampire’s fangs aren’t real, that ghost is in a sheet.
Assure the authenticity of every friend you meet.
It does not do to make new friends. Be guided by your fear
and do not talk to strangers on this one night of the year.
*In Latin American folklore, La Llorona (pronounced [la ʝo.ˈɾo.na], “The Weeping Woman”) is a ghost of a woman who lost her children and now cries while looking for them in the river, often causing misfortune to those who are near, or who hear her.
I was premature in my posting of spooky Halloween photos. Go HERE to see scary photos.
The prompt words today are costume, weight, bloodcurdling and signal. Here are links:
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/10/31/rdp-wednesday-costume/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/10/31/fowc-with-fandango-weight/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/31/bloodcurdling/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/2018/10/27/daily-addictions-2018-week-43/signal