Halloween

Halloween is a time
For kids and candy,
Trick or treat,
And costume parties.
I don’t think
I ever got to go
Trick or treating
When I was a kid
Because Halloween
Was also a time for
Colds and flu,
And it always seemed
I was sick and had to miss
The annual candy roundups.
As I got into my teens,
Halloween was relegated to
Something the little kids did.
Many Halloweens
Came and went unnoticed
Until I went on a cruise
To the Bahamas
With my new wife
And discovered it was Halloween.
There was a costume party
For everyone to attend,
But we had no costumes.
It was a time to improvise,
And the only thing
We could come up with
Were the sheets on our bed.
She would be an Egyptian queen
And I was to accompany her
Dressed as a mummy.
Her outfit was easy,
But we spent hours
Ripping up bed sheets
And mummifying me.
We were just about done
When I realized
I had to go to the bathroom
And there was no provision
For such a need.
I ended up having to
Remove the costume,
And by the time
I was a mummy again,
The party was over.
I finally got my opportunity
To go trick or treating
When my daughters
Were two and three.
My wife made the costumes
And I was to take them
On the neighborhood tour.
I suppose they were a bit young
To enjoy the occasion,
Because by the second house
Both got scared,
Wet their pants,
And we had to return home.
In the years that followed
My wife continued making costumes
For the kids to wear,
But after their traumatic initial
Halloween tour with Papa,
It was their mother
Who would take them around,
And I stayed home
To greet other people’s kids.
I had to settle for
Doing a loot inspection
After the kids got home
Until they got wise to that.