A Different Halloween

This Halloween will be different.

There will be no Jack O’ Lanterns,

No Trick-Or-Treaters welcomed either

In this sacred space

Where I scrub and scrub

Till everywhere and everything

Shimmers beneath the red aura

Of a setting sun.

And yet I continue scouring

Until I drop exhausted

To the bare floor

While the surfaces softly glow

As moonlight spreads its beams.

Witches. ghosts, goblins

And other night creatures

May ride the skies till dawn,

But I will be unaware—

Deep in sleep as though cursed

Like fabled Sleeping Beauty.

When I wake, I will walk to the sea

To let the brine sharp air

Sweep away the last ash-dust

Of betrayal,

And standing in the receding waves

Let their distanced coolness

Seep within to douse even the embers

Of betrayal’s fires of treachery.

At last, I will lie in the sun

While the rushing waters within

Carve away the lingering footprints

Of betrayal

Creating new pathways

Until there is only an emptiness

As vast as the Grand Canyon.

Infilled with peace

Then warmed within and without,

I will rise to walk in serenity

And confidence

To a new beginning,

A new tomorrow.