I wrote this poem a couple years ago as I sat in a Starbucks in Belmont Shore...watching the parade of Halloween revelers pass by.
It seemed appropriate this year, too.
I got me thinking about Halloween again....and how I have grown to dislike it...
It has become commercialized like all or most holidays and just another excuse to party...
In this poem, I decided to use Halloween as a jumping off point so to speak for my other concerns about our society.
GP
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TRICK OR TREAT?
Trick or treat?
Neither is what they seem.
The scary things don't hide in closets
but in our hearts and souls
as we confront our lost dreams
our twisted hopes,
our love turned turned so bitter inside.
Left alone in the darkness of our imaginations.
We are the bogeyman and the bogeyman is us.
Tricked for treats?
Treated to dirty tricks?
The scary stuff?
Your best friend
letting you down over again
Your lover hurting you because they can.
Treats and trickery on All Hallows' Eve.
The real horrors of human nature
to contemplate.
There are zombies, vampires and monsters
everywhere you look tonight.
They are always there.
You work for them.
You try to love them.
You struggle to understand them.
You call them family.
You regard them as good friends
and trusted allies
who are selling you out all the while
with handshakes and smiles.
Trick or treat?
Neither is what they seem.
George Pappas
Copyright 2009
