Ravens chorus their caws
into screeching symphonies,
squirrels eagerly gather for the coming cold.
Sunlight streams through broken branches
sweet apples slowly rot to their graves.
Leaves long for trees they once fed,
losing their gorgeous green
to hues of
red, orange and yellow.


Tiny flames wrapped in orange flesh sit on crumbling concrete,
cast a cutout shadow.
White cobwebs, and gloomy scarecrows
guard the gold of wrappers.


Moonlight illuminates purple painted faces
and crimson capes,
greedy goblins move from door to door
bells echo in the never-ending night.
Scents of cheap plastic and chocolate soak the air
like fog after a long rain.


Imagined identities are later shed like snake skin.
Sinks become a whirlpool of color
as paint washes away
and capes flutter to the floor.
The one night a year
where you can hide your true self
comes to a close.