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://allyourpoems.com/all-your-poems-magazines/all-your-poems-anthology-october-2025/

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