"Nothing on Earth so beautiful as the final haul on Halloween night." ~Steve Almond
"One need not be a chamber to be haunted; One need not be a house; The brain has corridors surpassing Material place." ~Emily Dickinson
"Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. " ~ William Shakespeare
Today is Halloween. I have always loved Halloween. I have always had someone to dress up in a costume . When I was young I dressed Reuben and Martha up in all kinds of crazy things. My Favorite for them was a fat man for Reuben and a little old woman for Martha. I did dress her as a fat man too every once in a while. Reuben just flat refused though when I wanted him to be the old woman.. Go figure?! If you have a small child and no costume you will never go wrong with a fat midget. I promise you that everyone will love it.. You might win a prize even. Plus you will laugh yourself silly. And think of the pictures you can show to the kids later. Every one of my kids have been fat man/midget. Even the girls. My boys all said no to the old woman thing too.. Go figure again!? A few times I dressed a few of My own up as Fat men and we looked like the circus had come to town.
One Halloween in particular I remember that Martha wanted to be a cat. I already had her fixed up in leotards and had made a tail and pinned to the back of her black body shirt. I had already sneaked Mary's eye liner and drawn her whiskers. She was perfect. I had tried to get Reuben to be grandma and wear her bonnet.. he said "NO!" I had tried to get him to be a pirate.. ... He said "NO!" So I went into Daddy's closet and found his blue plaid walking shorts. and a green striped shirt and grabbed a couple of pillows. I found a straw hat in the laundry room and got a neck tie from behind Daddy's bathroom door. In just a few minutes I had created a perfectly round smiling fat midget man. The first of his kind.. And what do you Know, Reuben said " YES!"
Miss Sylvia across the street screamed with laughter till she finally said she had to go change her clothes. Mr Olin gave us a dollar for making her wet her pants. I of course took care of all the money as usual. Mrs. Hutto dragged him for her husband to see and they filled our sacks with candy. Aunt Lucy just shook her head and tried not to smile. " Y'all gonna get a whipping messing around with your Daddy's clothes." she said. I saw the twinkle in her eye though. Mr Harold made Miss Guida give us two popcorn balls each. Everywhere we trick er treated that night they herded Reuben inside so someone who either couldn't or wouldn't come outside, could get a look at him. We all made a great haul of candy that night. And if I had a small child this year I would be walking down the street with a fat /midget man and a sack full of candy. Have fun with your children today. Even if you don't celebrate Halloween you can still just spend time with the kids. Play dress up with them sometimes. Let the kid inside of you be free just for a short time. Enjoy yourself..
Have a great day!
Patsy
Spooky Night
Oh me Oh My a ghost
no ship but I see coming a pirate
their breath the scent of candy
away they scramble with frightening cries
Look across the moon flies a witch
and dangled from it's web a spider!
a huge black and spotted spider
watch as it wiggles towards the ghost
swatted now by the broom of the littlest witch
gobbled down by the skinny pirate
way down in the swamp an animal cries
here all the cries are for candy
bowls and cauldrons filled with candy
webs hanging low woven by a fat plastic spider.
oh No a pink clad princess cries
to a hangman and a green ghost
Run away screams the pirate
as from the darkness flies a blond witch
she's skinny for a witch
we should stuff her with candy
we could sell her to the pirate
or feed her to the spider
give her to me moans the ghost
we laugh at her cries
we cackle at the echo of her cries
we admire the warted nose of the witch
what a pitiful ghost
begging for more candy
trembling before the huge spider
holding tight to the hand of his sister pirate
Pirate after treasure less Pirate
all afraid of the haunting cries
squatting low under the web tangled spider
keeping their eye on the witch
clutching their sacks and buckets of candy
daringly unafraid of the ghost
This years best was a Pirate, the scariest was a witch
our ears ached with the cries for more and more candy
Till the only spooks beneath the spider on our porch, was our own little ghost.
~a sestina~
written by: Patricia Sawyer
10-12-2008
8 comments:
Just think, I used to be a fat midget man and now I am a fat bug man! Go figure! Love you! Reuben
oops! That should be Fat Big man not Bug man.......
Wow ain't ya glad you refused to be an old bent back wrinkled Lady in a bonnet? I am.. I shudder to think of you in that condition..
I love ya!
Patsy
I am shuddering thinking about it too! Reuben....
Oh Patsy, I wished I could have been there. I love Halloween as well and have made my fair share of costumes. One year I beaded Indian costumes for Beth and Becki and Becki stuck a bead up her nose and it got stuck. I drove to your mama's and daddy's to see if they could get it out cause I was afraid to go to the hospital. Your mama took her crooked tweezers from the sewing room and got it right out!
I remember being a ghost, made out of just an old white sheet, a "hobo" with my daddy's clothes and an old woman with my momma's clothes. It was always fun! Thanks for the laugh!
~ Clair st Johns~~ I remember the indian costumes and I think if you will look in the first Photo album I made for everyone.. there is a picture of Beth and Anthony with Martha and Daddy. I could never afford bought costumes but My kids always looked great! Once Emily was a bag of Jelly beans. I still have her last "costume" It was a sack of sugar. Also Coopers last "Costume"
when he was a Greenville county Deputy like "Aunt Ruby"! Anthony's Last kiddy set was Superman and I have the shirt and cape.
sunshine~ We woulda hooked you up with that sheet and an added Cowboy hat and some boots stolen from Davids room.. you woulda been a cowgirl ghost.. If we coulda got a hold of Jimmy's rope you woulda won a prize.
They say you learn something new everyday and I did today. I learned that I have to come back every now and again just to read the comments that come in after mine. I came looking for a new poem or two and what I found was some really good comments.
By the way, I really love my sisters. They each mean so much to me. Reuben.
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