Come midnight hour of Halloween, light
bright candles against the creatures unseen,
until the veil between the worlds cracks slight–
then ghosts, ghouls, fairies gather to convene.
The Fairy Queen rides to collect your soul,
or leaves a body in your place, a trace
of magic in the air. But ghouls take all–
eat heart and face, leave nothing to embrace.
Now watch the dark closet, near the wall–
watch it well, for shadows that come creeping
that slither and slide, float above, or crawl
across the floor, sneaking while you’re sleeping–
Fear foul beasts beside the bed—fear their tread,
from me they’ve fled, they come for you instead.
I’m running away!
From the foul beasts conjured up in Merril’s poem: but where to hide? Behind the sofa does not seem safe enough. Thank you for this frightfully good Halloween Sonnet, Merril! The festival of poetry is well and truly underway, with more still to come, before we reach the midnight hour again…
Great Sonnet … I’m sticking with the Fairy Queen Merril. I like the sound of that!🎃👻
Good choice!
Thanks so much, Cindy! I always loved the folk ballad Tam Lin (Fairport Convention did a version), so that’s where the Fairy Queen came from.
oh yes Merril.. love that and such a good add on!🎃🎃
😀🎃
Exquisite Halloween sonnet with vividly scary imagery! Just one concern…the last verse sounds pretty menacing! Should I be afraid? Love your poem, Merril! <3
Thank you for your kind words, Cheryl! I think if you play the Wilson Pickett song above, you’ll be safe. 😀
Beautiful sonnet Merril! 💙
For me? 🙈 🙉 oh no— I’ll skip sleep tonight then.
Great Sonnet, Merril. Quite scary. 👏
A good spooky sonnet that captures Halloween well.
It certainly is! 🎃
What a wonderful sonnet, Merril! You did manage to spook me. 😱🎃
That was wonderful, Merril. And now, I’m waiting to press “post comment” for the song to end 🙂
A spooky sonnet, for sure!
Love it, Merril!