The Halloween Dance

The Halloween Dance

By Laura Brady DePace

The haunted house awaits the night,

Its windows curtained with webs of white.

Its doors gape empty, dark with gloom.

No touch of light within the rooms.

“Hoot-hoot!” the owl loudly cries,

Peers from the trees with wide-awake eyes.

“Hoot-hoot!” he calls out once again

Waiting for the party to begin.

The bones from the graveyard begin to stir

Shaking off dirt as they’ve done before.

Ready to start the Halloween dance

As the shades begin the night’s seance.

Eerie music fills the air.

Ghosts in ball-gowns float down the stairs.

A spirited orchestra plays a tune,

Spotlit by the silvery moon.

Dancers nod, and bow, and weave

Making the most of this Halloween eve.

“Living it up” on Halloween night

Unmoved by the thought of the villagers’ fright.

“Grab your pitchfork!” the villagers yell.

“Grab your flaming torch as well!

It’s Halloween! The spirits rise

To bemoan their ill-spent lives.”

“It’s Halloween! And we must race

To put each spirit in its place.

Back you go! Into the earth

Until next Halloween’s rebirth.”

One by one, the villagers come.

Two by two, the ghosts go home

Back to their crypts, back to their sleep

Back to the darkness, soft and deep.

The haunted house fades into night,

Its windows curtained with webs of white.

The Halloween dance has come and gone

It heaves a sigh and bows to the dawn.