Poetry - Lynn White

  Jack It was a turnip long before it became a pumpkin, pumpkins weren’t grown here back then and, after our little party together I surely needed protection to keep the devil at bay. It had seemed a good idea to invite him for a drink and a good opportunity to part him from his cash. I thought robbing the devil would keep me in drinks all my life! But I was a fool, a mean and stingy fool now forbidden from both heaven and hell. And hell would have been kinder to me than this eternal wandering, my way lit only with a devilish lantern glowing grotesquely with my fool’s fire. So spare a kind thought for me on Halloween and let me close my eyes and sleep. https://latinosenglishedition.blog/2026/10/30/spooky-poems-by-lynn-white/

  All The Devils Were There I used to dress in bakers white and take a basket of bread to Halloween parties.  I never found many takers. Spiced pumpkin, apple cakes and candy were always more popular. So I had a re-think. Now I take a basket of babies. They can’t get enough of them all of those devils out there, even those who come as angels  gather round for a bite. Just one bite will transform them so they’ll leave as devilish as the rest. https://latinosenglishedition.blog/2026/10/30/spooky-poems-by-lynn-white/

  But Some Of Us Are Brave Scotland was not the place to be a witch, it really wasn’t. There were more than four thousand witch trials in Scotland putting Salem to shame, the Witch-Finders boasted. One would suppose that  wise women did not become witches, but it seems, many did and paid a hot and heavy price. So not many would be dancing, even on Halloween, even in spirit  few would rise for the occasion, not even the white witches. But there will always be some, some women brave enough  to celebrate. https://latinosenglishedition.blog/2026/10/30/spooky-poems-by-lynn-white/

  Samhain It’s the time when bonfires are lit when it’s easier to cross into another world when places are set at the table to welcome the dead,  to consume the witches so the evil in the world dies  in the heat and the smoke and the flames. But this Samhain in Gaza the evil is spreading in the smoke and ashes. Everywhere is aflame nowhere is safe and everyone is a witch, the old, the young and even the dead must burn. Gazans have become the new Nemeds having already given their corn and milk now they must give two thirds of their children and watch as they are consumed in the fire. It’s the custom after all. https://latinosenglishedition.blog/2026/10/30/spooky-poems-by-lynn-white/

  Trick Or Treat They’re spilling like jewels  from the child proof jar, multicoloured, sugar coated, ‘Eat Me’ treats. Or are they tricks? Try them and you’ll find out  soon enough, just suck them, and you’ll see. https://latinosenglishedition.blog/2026/10/30/spooky-poems-by-lynn-white/

  Auntie Aggie It was a beautiful seventeenth century farmhouse   in a picture postcard English village, the family home of Liz who would drop me off there   on our way back home from college. I would pick up the bus for the last fifteen miles. That night was my first overnight stay. Liz lived with her parents and granny and inside it was as olde worlde as out with creaky floor boards and beamed ceilings. It was Saturday and her parents were out so we played our music loud. Granny was said to be a little deaf and she didn’t complain about the music. I could hear her as she crossed the room above to open a drawer or cupboard and then return to her favourite chair in the corner but there was no angry banging on the floor, just frequent sorties back and forth, her footsteps sprightly and unremarkable. I didn’t mention her to Liz, it felt rude, somehow. At about eleven we heard a car draw up and turned our music down. Liz’s parents came in followed by Granny. Confused, I aske...