Poem - The Glorious Gory 31st

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I have actually incorporated the words from two @Jessicalynnt Suddendeath poetry challenges into this work, so there are ten words to look for instead of just five. The words are brisk, change, harvest, moon, pumpkin , write, fright, sight, light, and night. The Glorious Gory 31st Business gets brisk as the 31st draws nigh Cosplay display has its Christmas As the demons have their black mass Fright Night movies dominate the screen The shops gorge on coin every Halloween Their richest pre-December harvest boon As ordinary people howl at the moon Once it was only children who would change But nowadays it’s those in ordinary clothes who seem strange As The Monster Mash plays throughout the night Before the market dies with the first rays of light When All Saint’s Day fails to feed Mammon’s belly And there are no films on saints or martyrs on the telly Why no one dressed as George or the dragon? Surely St. Francis is worth dressing up as, and raising a flagon? Fasting piety gives little opportunity to sell more food Putting a halo on a pumpkin would seem blasphemous and rude Vampires and mummies look an awesome sight A hermit or staying in to study and write About scripture is not so much fun Mammon starves when Satan’s dance is done While Christmas rekindles all that’s commercial and crass Though after the New Year, nearly nine months will pass Before the festival of blood starts again And everyone has zombies after their brain For another night of the living dead naïve Dressing as whatever their imaginations conceive While the shops rake in a monster hoard As we spend more than we can easily afford To make ourselves frightful – how delightful, Halloween, the night to be seen Being something you’re not, spending more than you’ve got, Celebrating the Saint’s Day with an Almighty hangover Followed by thanksgiving, Christmas, or Passover While your liver screams in fear Knowing you’ll feast on trick or treats swilled down with beer Overgorged tills will soon be seen – they always have a very happy Halloween. Arthur Chappell