Morphism,
almost suggestive
The Flaneur went browsing
for costumery and décor
grazing on the grass is a gas
The uppermost stretch
of College avenue
in Oakland's Rockridge
The skies were still clouded
with the tragedy taking place
not far away
in the North Bay fires
A neighborhood
still colorful and fanciful
less eccentric than it was
once upon a time
The home prices
and the rents have
increased considerably in my
nearly forty years in town
More than a touch grand
these days
Memento Mori
A delightful part of town
nevertheless
The brides still wear white
Traditions
and old timey
California facades and
civic substructures persist
A symbolic hold-out
from the Irish working class era
hereabouts
A door-knocker
attracts one indoors
One requires such macabre decorations
this time of the year
this time of the year
when the fields are crisped and sere
A second-hand shop
resplendent with
gleefully morbid gee-gaws
and the makings for
merry nocturnal
tomfoolery
All the spook junk
you can use
The contents of every
disgruntled kid's bedroom
that the parents schlepped off
to the thrift shop
Who will I be
for all Hallow's Eve
An Irish fairy figure
costume might do
Then merely select
a mask to go with it
See how one looks
in the witchy black mirror
You're ready to
run outdoors
after dark
seeking candy
on jack-o-lantern
doorsteps
Or to haunt the
Eve of All Saints
in a manner to which
one is accustomed
Ornate tombstone,
the cross is a prayer
for resurrection
Time to re-open
doors of perception
Into the slow motion
swirl of
falling autumn
20 October 2017
