Halloween
Mac Hammond
The butcher knife goes in, first, at the top
And carves out the round stemmed lid,
The hole of which allows the hand to go
In to pull the gooey mess inside, out -
The walls scooped clean with a spoon.
A grim design decided on, that afternoon,
The eyes are the first to go,
Isosceles or trapezoid, the square nose,
The down-turned mouth with three
Hideous teeth and, sometimes,
Round ears. At dusk it's
Lighted, the room behind it dark.
Outside, looking in, it looks like a
Pumpkin, it looks like ripeness
Is all. Kids come, beckoned by
Fingers of shadows on leaf-strewn lawns
To trick or treat. Standing at the open
Door, the sculptor, a warlock, drops
Penny candies into their bags, knowing
The message of winter: only the children,
Pretending to be ghosts, are real.
I enjoy this poem mostly because I rock autumn and Halloween.
7 comments:
I really like this poem. It takes this simple tradition of carving a pumpkin and makes it sound extravagent and really in depth. It takes a simple thing that almost everyone does and makes it seem so beautiful.
This was a good poem. It took me back to the days of me and my brother carving pumpkins with my dad and now I do it with my own kids. It gave pumpkin carving a whole new perspective. There was so much visual sensory. Now I'm even more excited for Halloween to come!!
I like this poem, it reminds me of when I little and used to carve pumpkins with my family. I always hated touching the gooey mess inside the pumpkins, like the poem describes. I think it gives very good visual imagery of the event. This poem is neat to me because it means more than just carving a pumpkin, it is about the whole atmosphere of halloween and how it makes you feel like a kid again.
Purely because i was born in October, i have a special place in my soul for autumn as well as the festivities that follow. this poem is rich in it visual and tactile sensories. you can almost feel the guts of the pumkin in your hands. it also gives you the whole scene, the jack-o-lantern on the porch and kids coming up all dressed in there costumes. the last stanza is pretty powerful as well. the message of winter...great stuff here. HAPPY HALLOWEEN
I really like this it is a nice reminder of how wonderful it was to be a kid and enjoy running around with you're friends. But also it is a different view on pumpkin carving.
I like this poem alot!! it is perfect for the season and weather outside! Plus, everyone has carved a pumpkin, so ppl can relate to it and remeber carving !
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