Here's To The Candy Corn! Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

october winds have gathered

the moon is on the trail

the children go ghost sheeted



and the branches scratching wail.

our hearts were high for candies

the risk we didn't mind.



when folks latched up their shutters

and swiftly shut the blinds.

we knew they owed us greatly



at the turning of the year

like pirates out for treasure

with foil wrapped cutlass, spear



tiaras in the daylight grew paler in the shade

and we were ghosts of princesses

who wandered dale by dale.



we prayed for chocolate kisses

three musketeers and more

we prayed and prayed on Sundays



for pounds of candy corn.

how well can I remember

the plunder that we made



rejoicing over chocolate

over licorice, dismayed.

how simple then to gather



from neighbors of good will

a cup of apple cider, a brownie

what a thrill.



or caramel covered apple

a ghostly tale or two

and then to plunge through darkness



to safer shores we knew.


mary angela douglas 4 october 2018