Welcome again to all hallows eve'n

This is the night

welcome again 
to all hallows eve’n, 
where the veil lifts
between 
alive and 
deceased,
where the lifeless lift
out their weary bones
to walk again,
untethered 
to caskets,
unweighted 
by stones,
set free of the burden 
of such morbid 
moans 
of well-meaning
mourners,
and their
worn-out groans
(trussed as they are
to their rules, 
to their tomes.)

this is the night
where 
the nameless,
the bleak,
the wormy ones
roam,
shadowy lurkers
crusted with loam,
who whine at
glass outside
the circle of glow,
who pace at the
edges, hungry and
alone, leaving no
mark but a trace 
of bitter brimstone.
one cannot hide
from the dread 
that caves in on a night 
that belongs 
to the lost 
to the grim.
hang up your crosses,
sprinkle your salt, 
there’s naught
to delay, or to halt 
the mulish passing
of souls 
on their way:
to this dreamland
of theirs 
for one sacred day.

---

“I knew nothing but shadows and I thought them to be real.”

-Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Poem 25 of 31 in the series “The Liminal Season.”

Today is a rhyming Halloween poem inspired by the word “hallowed.” It was a word I gave myself for this phantastical holiday I love — Halloween!

Also called “All Hallows’ Eve” it is a holiday that co-celebrates the eve of the Christian holy day All Saints’ Day and the ancient pagan/Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

Pagan sounds mildly evil in Islo-Judeo-Christian cultures, but historically, it meant a person who was not part of a major monotheistic religion like Christianity, Judaism, or Islam.

Learn more about Druids and the historical traditions of Samhain here!

Happy Halloween!