Costumes

Tomorrow is Hallowe’en, and at my house pumpkins are carved and costumes are (mostly) ready. Like runners on blocks, we are taut and ready to burst into a candy-eating sprint.

Below is a poem I wrote last Hallowe’en entitled “Costumes.” It appeared in my second book, Event Horizon. For fun, I’ve also posted a couple pictures of our pumpkins this year. Happy Hallowe’en!

Costumes

The costume sits on a chair
in my bedroom.

Hallowe’en is past
but I’m not ready to get rid of it.

I spent so much time
thinking about how to make it.

Then I freaked out
because I left the making of it
‘til the night before;
I courted the edge 
like a desperate man on a roof.

In the end, 
I wore it a little while,
and that was it.

All that delicate, 
sweat-beading assembly
gone
in the space of a lit fuse.

I am tempted to spit a surly soliloquy
about how pointless 
everything is.
But I think I
might be pointless

when I give so much attention
to masks
and make up.