A Halloween Poem for Kids of All Ages

On a starless night of gloom,

When all traces of the moon,

Lay entombed in clouds of doom-

Something tapped upon my window.

Only once the tap resounded,

Still I woke aghast, astounded,

And from my bed directly bounded-

To glimpse the something at my window.

Only darkness filled the night.

Nothing stood within my sight.

Not a flicker, not a light-

Nothing showed outside my window.

Then just as I began to wonder

If I had dreamt that tap of thunder,

The silence round was torn asunder-

By something tapping on my window.

Tap, tap, tap it tapped some more,

And suddenly I clearly saw

The sight that I had missed before-

A skeleton was tapping on my window.

Its bones were thin and gleaming white,

Its sockets watched me with delight,

Watched my ever growing fright-

As it drummed its bones upon my window.

But presently the dreary night

Was shattered by a blaze of light;

A bolt of lightning, fierce and bright-

Flashed outside my bedroom window.

Night was day in the blink of an eye,

And the skeleton was shown to be a lie,

A costume worn by someone sly-

Trick-or-treating in the darkness past my window.

"Trick-or-treat," he croaked at me,

Making faces awfully

Dancing, prancing wickedly-

In a crazy jubilee of bones outside my window.

And then thunder broke the sky,

And rain poured down with a dreadful sigh.

And everything went all awry-

For the skeleton outside my window.

Suddenly his suit was dripping,

And his scrawny gloves were slipping,

As they tried to stop the tipping-

Of his mask outside my window.

But Too late! I saw at once,

Not a skeleton! Not a chance!

Just my stupid neighbor, Lance-

Pretending it was Halloween outside my window.

"Tomorrow night!" I rolled my eyes.

And shut my blinds over his cries,

As he fell backwards, arms and thighs

Splashing in a puddle, as I slipped into my bed - forgetting all about the rain outside my window.