Remembering Halloween Poem by L MILTON HANKINS

I remember Halloween in the West Virginia hills
High up where winter's chill had already settled in
By mid-October; trick-or-treating in rain, sleet, or snow
In a homemade, ragtag costume hastily pieced together.

We trudged along, shivering chimera from house to house,
Our closest neighbors insisting we sing a song or recite
A simple poem, before dropping a tasty treat—an apple,
Popcorn, or a piece of homemade chocolate fudge—
Into our sodden grocery store sack.

We dared not indulge in malicious pranks
Lest word get around that we had "shown ourselves" *
Causing us to forfeit the next year's Halloween fun.


*"to show oneself" - a mountain idiom for misbehaving.