Halloween Poetry

Happy Halloween! What are you up to today? I'm busy making shrunken heads out of old apples for a party on Saturday and putting the last few touches on to my costume. It's such a good excuse to have some fun!

I wanted to post something suitably spooky and decided upon...Tim Burton! I love watching his films this time of year, but I wondered how many of you knew he had written and illustrated a book of poetry? It's very suitable reading for today, and is full of his trademark creepy, gothic fun. You can read his collection online: The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy.

And here's one of the poems: Mummy Boy

He wasn't soft and pink

witha fat little tummy;

he was hard and hollow,

a little boy mummy.

"Tell us, please, Doctor,

the reason or cause,

why our gundle of joy

is just a bundle of gauze."

"My diagnosis," he said

"for better or worse,

is that your son is the result

of an old pharoah's curse."

That night they talked

of their son's odd condition-

they called him "a reject

from an archaeological expidition."

They thought of some complex

scientific explanation,

but assumed it was simple

supernatural reincarnation.

With the other young tots

he only played twice,

an ancient game of vergin sacrifice.

(But the kids ran away, saying, "You aren't very nice.")

alone and rejected, Mummy Boy wept,

then went to the cabinet

where the snack food was kept.

He wiped his wet slockets with his mummified sleeves,

and sat down to a bowl of sugar-frosted tanna leaves.

One dark, gloomy day,

from out of the fog,

appeared a little white mummy dog.

For his newfound wrapped pet,

he did many things,

like building a dog house

à la Pryimid of kings.

It was late in day-

just before dark.

Mummy Boy took his dog

for a walk in the park.

The park was empty

except for a squirrel,

and a birthday party for a Mexican girl.

The boys and girls had all started to play,

but noticed that thing that looked like a papíer mâché.

"Look its a píñata,"

said one of the boys,

"Let's crack it wide open

and get the candy and toys."

They took a baseball bat

and whacked open his head.

Mummy Boy fell to the ground;

he finally was dead.

Inside of his head

were no candy or prizes,

jast a few stray bettles

of various sizes.