'All Them Fallin', by Stephen Ralph Spencer II
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the girl we all call the Queen of Halloween
, and—not just that—she’s the girl of my dreams
I still hope one day she’ll call me her King of Halloween
, and I don’t just like her ‘cause she’s really cute
She has always been nice to us, which
at first surprised us. We thought,
”How could anyone be so nice
with a mother so entirely mean?”
We knew how sometimes she’d
hit the Queen of Halloween
, and all of us (especially me)
wished for our Queen to be set free
, but none of us (including me)
knew how to help her out
Somehow she got out! and
good for her, but now we all miss her
, and I never got to kiss her
or be her King of Halloween
(So, please)
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the girl we all call the Queen of Halloween
Her hair’s iridescent, her style’s eclectic
Nothing about her stays still, not even
the jack-o-lanterns on her windowsill
, which she rotates out all year long
If we see them rot, she might really be gone
, but—never mind that now—just keep looking!
If you see her, tell her to wait for me,
that I’ll run away with her, that
I have become what I wasn’t before: brave enough
to steal food from service stations, to sleep in cemeteries,
brave enough to follow, to not worry about tomorrow
, but—never mind that now—just keep looking!
She’s run away before, but this time feels different
Her mom is mumbling comatose, something about bad spirits
She’s always been crazy
, but—never mind that now—just keep looking!
Tell everyone you know,
the Queen of Halloween is missing!
Artwork by Mary Ledvina