Two Halloween Poems

Ben Arzate

a poem for children

sunday is gloomy
monday is worse
tuesday a burden
wednesday a curse
thursday is useless
friday a fraud
and saturday doesnt
deserve your applause

the weeks will go by
and then become months
then months become years
the straight starts to slump
the tall will fall down
and the low becomes lower
and those who were fast
find themselves getting slower

at the green house
where you had grown up
and sat in the swings
and watched the bright sun
the swing set is going 
to be taken down
and the paint on the house
will have become brown

executions on television

ladies and gentlemen
boys and girls
we present
for your viewing pleasure

a jackson pollock painting
of splashing blood 
blades piercing flesh
like coital punishment
a choir of gags gunshots
and screaming like you 
never heard

pop some popcorn
sit down with your family
by sustainable 
human fat candlelight

bask in the warmth
of your flat screen
feeding tube
as the dregs 
of society
are put out 
of their misery

we will begin
with an address
of drooling sadism
from the president
followed by 
the opening ceremony
featuring the hottest
pop stars
and a performance
of sorrowful warbling
from the local
high school choir

and now a word 
from our sponsors
raytheon
coca cola
and the center
for the advancement
of inclusive suffering


Ben Arzate haunts the city of Dead Moines, IA. His tale of terror, Music is Over!, was published by Hellarkey Books. He is currently planning to murder your family by horribly brutal means after he finishes writing his next book.