The Horror House Revisited


Mysterious stains on shirts and underwear,
and reflections in powder-soiled mirrors
of haggard youths stooping shakily over.
Houses stand tall, forlorn, and tightly lined.

The snappy photos are then formulated
and it’s just zombie extras and ghastly flashes,
a variation of horrid sights and worse truths.
The houses stand tall and tightly in line.

Halloween holds no significance anymore.
Young kids and adults alike turn up slapped
and made up in every tone: blacks, blues, greens.
Houses stand tightly uniformed in line.

And when the sun rises tiredly above
all the shades of sticky mascara run thin
over the sweats of caked and cranky brows,
the party’s begun – Stand ready in line.