The Last Night of October
The last night of October
is one of crickets,
loud and soft, blending
with a yellow gray sky,
a chill wind rising,
while down the street
children in costume
parade from house to house.
But ours is dark.
A door slams.
My wife’s thin face,
distorted with hate,
breath stinking of gin,
that shy pretty girl
I took to the altar
so many years ago,
out she goes to the car.
(about the brakes –
I’d fixed them just for her)
She revs it up, and charges
into the rush of passing traffic,
a shriek of tires, a scream —
headlights on broken glass,
an asphalt mirror
When I hear the sirens,
I light the candle in
my beautiful pumpkin.
-Marge Simon
TODAY’S GIVEAWAY: Marge offers a copy of SWEET POISON, 2014, Dark Renaissance Press by myself and Mary Turzillo: “A concert of close harmonies from two disturbingly compatible talents-two minds with a single (sick) thought, though stunningly diverse ways of illuminating it. From Alice and Wonderland to Lady Macbeth, poets in residence to time travelers in trouble, Simon and Turzillo offer readers a unique poetic mind game. Or maybe a mind field. Whatever your sweet poison, it’s probably here.” –Ann K. Schwader, Author of TWISTED IN DREAM & Stoker Award Finalist
MARGE SIMON’s work appears in publications such as Strange Horizons, Niteblade, Daily Science Fiction, Pedestal Magazine, and Dreams & Nightmares. She has won the Strange Horizons Readers Choice Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the Rhysling Award and the Dwarf Stars Award. www.margesimon.com
Great visual to start the season! DRP has some great books coming out lately. 🙂
Great poem, Marge. And your book sounds awesome. 🙂
Pretty powerful poem. It put me right into the scene. I felt like I was right there, witnessing everything.
Ohhh. That was fun.
Love this piece. Great build up, and the italics portion really set the tone for the ending. I like how normal, yet completely sinister and calculated the narrator is. Beautiful work, as always, Marge!
Excellent work! So easy to picture the scene in my head.
Wonderful poem! Creeptastic and perfectly themed. 🙂
A suitably chilling poem for Halloween, Marge. Great!
Nice poem. Really enjoyed it.