Jack-O’-Lantern

Among pockets of shadow, strikes fire aglow,

Amber cocooned flashlights, bulbous hallow,

Innards discarded for tiny candle hearts,

Carved faces adorned; teeth stretched apart.

A trail of warmth down a biting cold street,

Luring the beggars to a sweet lovers treat,

Winter’s squash, nature’s nightlight and skull,

Forged freely from fields, judged for the cull.

Illuminating signals, masks burning bright,

Vying with each other for thrills in the night,

Only for the sun’s rise to seal their fate,

A sunken carcass rotting, a fireless state.

Left on the doorstep to shrivel and decay,

Until year’s full cycle, the next Halloween day.