POEMS FOR A WITCHY HALLOWE'EN

Happy Hallowe'en, my friends. I thought the serendipity of this feature falling on this day called for some witchy cackles and a spooky poem or two. For that I didn't have to look far. I offer a witch's song of my own, as well as poems from Magaly Guerrero and our very own Passionate Crone, Rosemary Nissen-Wade. I hope they help you get in the mood for tonight's festivities, if that is your proclivity, and at least bring a smile, if it is not. Here is a short video to help set the proper tone.

WITCH'S SONG

Pass me the stir-spoon, Sister, quick!
This stew's getting a little thick.
Push down the devil's claw. Mix in some thyme.
The brew must be ready by dinner-time.

A pinch of this and a pinch of that,
and dont forget to spell the Cat.
Owl sits in the corner with beady eye.
Toss him a mouse as you go by.

While it is brewing we'll sip on some gin,
and call the witches-in-training in.
Thrice 'round the cauldron, add some eye of newt,
and mind how you circle, or you'll tread on my boot.

Toss in two warty toads and the leg of a frog.
Let's fly round the meadow, skinny-dip in the bog,
count all our warts, multiply by two,
and I will teach a new spell to you.

To draw love, catnip, valerian for sleep.
Drop a marigold bloom in your tea; let it steep.
Calamus root and the knuckle of a frog.
We'll sing in the kitchen and dance with the dog.

Snakes go hiss and flames they crackle.

Potions bubble and pop to the witches' cackle.

Bats are singing love songs as they swoop and zoom.

They're chasing shrieking witches right out of the room.

Come out, my pretties, to the meadow in the hollow.
Skinny witches first, and the fat ones follow.
We will chant incantations, swoop around on our brooms,
and watch that black cloud cover the moon.

   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~

source

This was written for a prompt at Real Toads some time ago, so I thought I might give it a little run around the ceiling on its broom, given it's Hallowe'en. I admit I had to google some herbs to find out what they were for. I need to brush up on my witcherly knowledge. I seem to have forgotten more than I ever knew. Cackle.

Of course, Magaly sprang to mind for this feature, given she devotes the entire month of October to delicious witchy writing of all sorts. She gifted us with a very beautiful poem, celebrating the life of her brother. Let's read:

Magaly: I’m enchanted by the open ways in which witchiness is celebrated in October. I know most of us rejoice for different reasons, and that makes me happiest—diverse fun turns our world into a wonderful place to live in and grow. In October, my wild witchy soul celebrates the life of my dead. I might dress up and go trick-or-treating with my Piano Man and Little Princess, but my real celebration has to do with remembrance… as illustrated in the poem below:  

“Loving You through the Veil”

My words taste of you,
sing your scent into my dreams
until my all is you and me

again.

Last spring, I rained
morning after morning…
and at night

summer scorched your absence
into my skin.

I await the fall,
when October thins
all barriers,
and you feel me, still

loving you through the Veil.

I wrote this piece last October, with my little brother in mind… I’ve written dozens of poems and stories inspired by him. I believe that as long as my words and I remember him, he will always live. 

Thanks so much for having me, my wild Sherry. I hope your All Hallows’ Eve (and your entire year!) is full of delicious poetry… and of magic that makes the heart dance aloud.  

Sherry: Thank you, Magaly, my witchy friend, for your beautiful remembrance of your brother. Sigh. October is the time for remembering, for sure, those dearly loved departed souls.

Let's see what wisdom Rosemary has for us on this witchy-est of nights. I so adore the photo of her in her witch hat, which she wears with aplomb.

Rosemary's altar

Rosemary tells me, "I celebrate Samhain, the precursor of Halloween – a time for honouring the ancestors, including any recent dead. Being a Winter festival, it happens on April 30th in the Southern Hemisphere. However, many non-witchy Australians nowadays copy the American Halloween, so October 31st has become a fun night in Australia, too, for the kiddies to dress up and knock on doors to ask for sweets."

Rosemary has graciously allowed me to share the following poems, the first an enchanting exercise in trading pain for wisdom through ceremony, the second a witch dispensing treats to small unsuspecting  children. I love them both, so much.

Rosemary's Laser-tipped wand / athame

Night of the Blue Moon

I use my laser-tipped shaft

– a long crystal laser –

wand and athame both.

I cast a simple circle,

no elaborate ritual tonight.

I’m a plain and basic witch.

I welcome the elements,

creating sacred space

in my small back yard.

Even in moonlight

the trumpet creepers

glow bright orange.

The trees bend in

above me; the rose bush

has tight new leaves.

It has been a strange day.

Now I reach night, and accept

that some friendships grow old.

This, though, is constant: me

and the full moon together

in a garden, year after year.

I let the day go, in its pain.

With raised arms, I accept

into myself the moon’s white light.

I draw it down, and use it

to bless the plants and my cat

and the listening nature spirits.

I ask that the world will know

love, peace and truth. I ask

to be strong. And wise.

   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~

source

31st October

The little girls from across the road

came trick-or-treating tonight

in their witch and fairy costumes.

We’d forgotten Halloween, crude

corruption of Samhain — 

which anyway is a different season 

here, different time of year.

But we had some jellybeans,

emergency rations in case

his blood sugar drops. I poured a handful 

into their empty icecream bucket.

I wonder what they’d have said

if they’d known the smiling old couple,

their neigbours, were actual witches.

   ~~~   ~~~   ~~~

Smiles. I do love Hallowe'en, with its excited children and grinning pumpkins. On the West Coast after the holiday, one sees jack-o-lanterns grinning from all manner of unexpected places, alongside the highway, perched on clifftops, lined up on fallen tree-trunks. They make me smile, wherever I see them.


Thank you, Magaly and Rosemary, for adding to the fun and general spookiness with your wonderful poems, and selves!

Have a wonderful evening, however you may be spending it, my friends. May there be cackles! Be sure to come back and see  who we talk to next. Who knows? It might be you!