Seven Ghosts

The Monday ghost is pale and white.
The Tuesday ghost is out of sight.
The Wednesday ghost floats on air.
The Thursday ghost isn't there.

The Friday ghost yells BOO, loud and mean.
The Saturday ghost can't be seen.
The Sunday ghost is a real dandy,
he likes to steal your Halloween candy.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  So, I reached my goal, a month of Halloween related poems.  I hope you have fun trick-or-treating tonight.  Can you write a color poem today? Think of all the colors that go with Halloween.  Orange pumpkins, yellow moon, red apples. white ghosts, brown leaves.  Now have fun writing about that. 

Today is Poetry Friday and the Roundup is hosted by Linda Baie at Teacher Dance.  Thanks Linda for hosting a great Halloween party.  You'll find lots of great poetry by visiting her blog.

CANDY CORN

I'll eat just one piece,
then I'll have two.
I'll eat a whole handful
before I am through.

This handful I'll eat
top to bottom.
If I see candy corn
my mouth has got them.

I love the sweet taste
when I eat bottom to top.
The candy is so good
I just can't stop.


     Today is National Candy Corn Day.  (Almost as good as Chocolate Day, huh?)
This Halloween candy is over 100 years old.  Did you know it was first called chicken feed?  What do you want to go in your Halloween bag?  Can you write a poem ab out that today?  Have fun.

The Sandman

The sandman went out
on Halloween night.
The ghouls and ghosts
gave him a fright.
He dropped his bag
out of arms reach
and that's how we got
Miami Beach.

    You can fill in your favorite beach in the last line.  What makes a beach?  What can you do at the beach?  Would you like to write a beach poem today?  Have fun.

SPIDER ART

Warning:  It's Monday and I'm being a little naughty today.  I'm using one of the favorite words of third grade boys in my poem.  It makes them laugh to say the word.
     I once submitted a poem about our desert storms-- Haboobs, to a publisher.  She wrote back that she couldn't take the poem because teachers didn't need  a group of giggling fourth graders to try to control when the poem had flying boobs in it.
    So if you're concerned about having giggles in your classroom, do not share this poem with a class of elementary students.

SPIDER ART

When spiders fart,
and they sometimes do,
they parachute spinnerets
into the blue.

So if you see a web
of pure elegance,
it might be art
or just flatulence.

   Actually this poem does have the virtue of building vocabulary.  Children can be learn the polite way to refer to flatulence.
   For your poetry challenge for today, can you write your own spider poem?  Have fun writing and I hope you did giggle today.  I'll try to clean up my act for tomorrow.

Haunted House

Witches, goblins and ghosts
live in the haunted house
at the end of my street.
I'm going to knock on their door
and ask for a trick-or-treat.
I hope they have something good,
to give me a yummy sweet.

LITTLE BAT

A little bat slept
under the eaves.
Each morning he'd beg
his mother, "Please,
tell me a bedtime story."

He wanted adventure
or fantasy,
but nothing that was
bloody or too gory.

Gory stories curled
little bat's hair
and gave him
an awful nightmare.

  Can you write a nightmare of a poem today?  Or you can just tell the story little bat wants to hear.  Have fun writing.

MY HALLOWEEN COSTUME

What will I be 
this Halloween
a ladybug, a bum,
a zombie, or a queen?


A cowboy, super hero,
or a rock star
maybe a wild scientist
who captures bugs in a jar.

A maid or a butler,
or a football player,
perhaps I'll dress
as a dragon slayer.

A circus performer
or a ballerina,
I might be the monkey man
who plays concertina.

A pirate who wears
a patch over one eye,
or a clown with big feet
and a shaving cream pie.

I can take my dog
but I'll need to disguise her
as a librarian, a doctor
or someone who is wiser.

Too many things that 
I can be.
Perhaps I'll just
go out as me.

    Will you dress up for Halloween?  Can you write a poem about a Halloween costume?
    In England if you go to a costume party, they call it a fancy dress party.  Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be to show up wearing the wrong clothes? 
    It is hard to believe that I only need to write seven more Halloween themed poems and I'll have a month's worth.  I think I can do this.  Have fun writing your own poem.

    We need to celebrate, my blog post counter shows that I have posted over 1300 poems on my blog.  Thank you for reading all those poems.
    Today is Poetry Friday and Cathy Mere is hosting the Roundup at her blog, Merely Day by Day   Thanks, Cathy. 

Halloween Howls

It is a good thing Halloween
just comes around
once a
year
as screeches and hoots
you can 
hear,
leave me afraid,
scared with
fear.

     What are you afraid of?  What causes you fear? Can you write a poem about that today?

SPOOKY NIGHT

In the dark night of Halloween
clouds are drifting
sky so
dull,
over water
a sea
gull
carries in his
claws a
skull.

   Here is another zeno that Arlene Sikkink and Lee Chutkow helped to write in our poetry workshop at Santa Catalina Villas.  I think I've now got them addicted to writing zenos too.  Can you try writing a zeno today?  Have fun. 

DOORBELL RINGS

Trick-or-treaters stand at my door,
keep demanding,
wanting
some
cookies, candy
apples
gum,
leaving nothing--
not a
crumb.

   Today's poem is another zeno.  I told you I thought they were addictive.  I worked with some seniors writing poetry today in their retirement community.  I shared the zeno form with them.  Lee Chutkow and Arelene Sikkink helped to write this poem.
   You can find directions for writing your own zeno on last Thursday's post.  You can read more zenos on Michelle Barnes' blog at Todays Little Ditty.
   Can you find friends to write a join poem with today?  Have fun with poetry.

HALLOWEEN NIGHT

Leaves fly
Dark sky
Limbs bend
Screaming wind
Lightning flash
Thunder crash
Scary
Halloween night.

Wanda the Witch

Bib-it-ty, Bob-it-ty
Wanda the witch
went off for a ride
and fell in a ditch.

Her broom wouldn't fly straight.
it went awry,
Bib-it-ty, Bob-it-ty
she fell from the sky.


  In this poem I use some nonsense words, Bib-it-ty, Bob-it-ty.  Can you write your own poem using nonsense words?  Try it.  I think you'll enjoy making up your own words.

Haunted Cinquain

Vampires
will bite your neck
while you sleep through the night
and their hunger demands they suck
your blood.


   This poem is a cinquain.  It is a five line syllabraic poem with 2 syllables in the first line, four in the second, then six and eight for the third and fourth line.  And for the fifth line we're back to two syllables again.  (2,4,6,8,2 syllables.)  Cinquains are fun to write.  Can you take one of your Halloween words and write your own cinquain today.  Have fun writing and playing with words.

Do the Zombie Dance

Zombies rise from their graves.
They stroll in your nightmares.
They do a stiff-leg robot walk
which gives us all a scare.
Boo-ooo-ooo!


     Happy Poetry Friday.  I'm still working on poems from my Halloween word list.  Can you try writing your own zombie poem today?  What if your BFF (best friend forever) was a zombie?  Do zombies go to school?  Could your teacher be a zombie?  Have fun writing your poem.

    Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Patricia Stohr-Hunt at her blog The Miss Rumphius Effect.  Just hop over there for lots more poetry fun.  Thanks for hosting us.

The Witch

Who is that
knocking at my door?
It's Snow White's evil
step-mother.

She carries a basket
of apples red.

Pick-your-treat,
is what she said.

Then she let out a 
gravelly cackle.
Her evil voice
raised the cat's hackles.

I think I'll wait
until after you.
I slammed the door
and then yelled,

BOO!

Happy Halloween.



      Oh, this poem is a mess.  Who ever heard of rhyming door with mother?  And, yes "apples, red," is a reversal.  So I think this poem needs some more work, but we can't all be perfect everyday.  So, this is what you get.  And I didn't even draw a picture to go with today's poem yet.  But just think, tomorrow is Halloween so you only have one more Halloween poem to put up with this year.  Have fun writing your own poem today.  Here is an idea, write a list poem today on all the things Halloween.  Or take one of the things on your list and write an acrostic poem for the word.  Have fun writing.  
     

DOLPHIN

Knocking at my door
was a bottle nose dolphin.
He knocked some more.
He didn't look too thin.

He carried a bag,
wanted to be fed.

FLIP-or-treat,
is what the dolphin said.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.


     Oh my goodness.  I was all ready to post a lovely haiku today with a photograph.  I was going to be done with all the permutations on my Halloween rhyme, but then on Saturday, I got a Halloween quote and picture of a dog in my email box.  It said "Lick or treat."  It was such a good idea to play with rhyming words for the trick, that I wanted to try my own.  So, I might make this Halloween party last all week.  I only need three more Halloween poems.  I hope you are having a spooky good time.  Can you write a spooky poem today?  Try it.  What frightens you?  How does it feel. What do you do?  Have fun writing.

THE YETTI

Knocking at my door
a furry yeti,
held out his hand
all hairy, sweaty.

I was scared.
Thought I'd be dead.

Tick-or-treat,
was what
the yeti said.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.


     I'm still playing with my Halloween rhyme. Have you tried it yet?  I had two other ideas.
One was to try using fairy tale characters.


Knocking at my door
a princess with her pea.
She held out the legume
to hand it to me.

She was distressed,
found a pea under her bed.

Trick-or-treat,
 the princess said.

Happy Halloween.

     Then, the second idea, to try writing the poem as a reverso--a poem that makes sense read from the top or the bottom.  With a tiny bit of tweaking, I made it work for the princess.


Happy Halloween
the princess said

Trick-or-treat,
She'd found a pea under her bed.
She was distressed
to hand it to me.

She held out the legume
the princess and the pea--
knocking at my door.

    I was delighted to see this works with this poem.  Now it is your turn.  Don't you want to try?  Pick an animal, or a fairy tale character, or your favorite character from children's literature and give it a go.  Have fun playing.  Please share your creation in the comments.

Black Bats

Black bats

fly at night.

Black bats

create fright.

Black bats

fly over 

field and town.

Black bats

coming around

your way to wish

you a happy

Halloween day.

     Happy Poetry Friday.  Today's host is Linda at   teacherdance.blogspot.com       If you go to this web site you can find lots of other exciting poems.  If you haven't seen Renee Latulippe's blog about THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY with an inter view of Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong.  You need to go here to see four of the poets from the book reading their poems.
   And if you follow David Harrison's blog here  you find out that he has agreed to do another wonderful poetry workshop next fall at the barn in Honesdale, PA for the Highlight's Educational Foundation.
   Have a great weekend.  enjoy writing your own poetry.

Boo!

Look carefully at this poem and see if you can figure out the form. 

If you go out on Halloween night

be prepared for a scary fright

if the moon is shining bright

and bats fly out of sight

beware of ghouls

who hold you tight

and witches

who shout

BOO!

     Did you figure it out?  Here is a hint--count lines, count syllables.

This is a nonce form based on the number 9.  There are 9 lines in this poem and nine syllables in the first line and one less syllable in each consecutive line, ending with a one syllable line.  Would you like to try writing a poem in this form?  Have fun.

MY PUMPKIN

Round,
     plump,
thump, thump, thump.

Listen, carefully
     to the sound
          of humming--
thrum, thrum, thrum.

The face on my jack-o-lantern
is a scarey sight,
as he sits on the porch step humming
all of this Halloween night.

He chortles;
     he giggles;
          he gives us a fright!
He seems to love
         HALLOWEEN NIGHT.


      Do you carve a pumpkin for Halloween?  Your challenge for today is to write a poem about picking out your pumpkin or choosing the face to carve on a pumpkin.  Or, if you'd like, write about what happens when the pumpkins get together.  Hope you have some hoooooowwwwwwling fun with this challenge.