to october

To October

You begin with a spectacular show of colors
We are dazzled by your magnificent beauty
You fill the sky with rubies, amber and gold
We watch as bits of your glory peacefully flutter to the earth

You entertain our children
They rake your droppings into huge mounds of fun
The air is filled with laughter as they jump into your piles

You give us a holiday of amusement and fake thrills
We decorate our homes with smiling pumpkins, silly ghosts and
clattering skeletons
Our children dress in costumes for a day of pretend
They wander door-to-door begging for heaps of candy
Later, they happily eat sweets until their bellies ache
They love you for this day of indulgence

October, you are a lie
Your show of colors is a prelude to death
Soon all that remains are bare branches and patches of lifeless
earth
Our children no longer laugh and play with you

Your holiday is truer than most suspect
A dark side lingers behind those decorations and costumes
The real spooks and ghouls are released
They lurk in the shadows, ready to strike
There's no escaping the demons who haunt us

Worst of all, you are the bringer of death
I have seen you in your true form
You are the grim reaper and you take away whose we love
Why, October, why must you be so cruel?

Angela C. Orlando
Revise October, 2012