Halloween Prayer

by Loris John Fazio

Oh Jack-o'-lantern,

grinning prince of fright,

please protect this household

from the children of the night.

The girl on the phone is weeping,

she says it's for my sake;

she wants me to go be with her

at the bottom of the lake.

"I cannot come, I will not come",

I hang up, but in vain:

from the drain hole in the kitchen sink

I hear her call my name.

As kids we thought this night was fun,

we broke into the old mill.

What we found nailed on those walls...

in my nightmares still...

It was three of us back then,

only one of us left now.

I wished I'd stayed at home!

Instead, I took that foolish vow.

Oh Jack-o'-lantern,

grinning prince of fright,

please protect this household

from the children of the night.

Harry is a shrieker now,

he lurks in the cracks in the wall.

When the days get shorter he oozes out

to answer his master's call.

He leaves behind cocoons of hair

and blood and torn out flesh.

Childrens' cupboards are his favourite lair:

he likes his innards fresh.

I think he's on my roof tonight;

you usually can't tell

unless the moon is red and bright,

then you'll hear his scream from hell.

And tonight his scream seems oh-so-near,

it sounds like gleeful beckoning.

Could he be calling that one here?

Is this the night of reckoning?

And who's that knocking at the door?

Surely, it cannot be...

Dear God, it's come! It said it would!

It's come at last for me!

Oh Jack-o'-lantern,

grinning prince of fright,

please protect this household

from the children of the night.