The House Keeps Every Child - Halloween

The porch lamp swung above the gate

The candy bowl was running late

A crooked sign said come inside

The children cross the threshold wide

The door swung shut with velvet grace

A painted grin slid into place

The hallway stretched beyond the wall

A staircase climbed then ceased to fall

A clock struck thirteen slow and deep

While portraits watched the children creep

their paper bags grew cold and wet

Their house had not begun its deck

Come in, come in, the feast is spread

The friendly host has gone to bed

Take one sweet, then take one more

The house remembers every door

You may come in beneath the moon

You'll hear the latch click all too soon

The candy's

the welcome through

But every room keeps hold of you

A boy in tinfoil Nike dress

in the press

It closed around him plate by plate

The helmet sealed his face in hate

The ghostly cook with silver tongs

Served pumpkin pie that sang old songs

One bite and vines curled round his knees

They rooted him beneath the cheese

A girl in wings pursued the moon

That drifted like a ballroom

The dancers bowed with brittle bones

Their slippers tapping over stones

She spun until her wings turned gray

The music would not let her stray

Her mask grew fast against her skin

The ballroom smiled and pulled her in

Come in, come in, the feast is spread

The friendly hosts have gone to bed

Take one sweet, then take one more

the house remembers every door

You may come in beneath the moon

You'll hear the latch click all too soon

The candy's free, the welcome true

But every

And dragged him down where drowned bells flew

A tiny witch drank from a cup

The bubbling brew began to sup

Her shadow first, then breath, then name

The teacup kept a little flame

They found a nursery, neat and white

With wood and poison, dirt and ice

The rocking horse began to

child's fate

The jack-in-box had cast and spun

Its ring wound tight around each one

The lullaby grew thin and true

The voice went through the children's

dawn, the parents rang the bell

The porch looked plain, the yard looked well

A bowl of sweets sat by the stair

No footprints marked the morning air

A voice behind the painted wood

Said they came in as children should

Then every window blinked its light

And grinned against the pale

little hand pressed to the glass

It fogged the circle as cars passed

A mother heard her own child call

The sound came from inside the wall

She reached to touch the frosted pane

The house breathed out and breathed again

The porch lamp swung, the sign held fast

Coming

Forget the last

Come in, come in

The feast is spread

The hosts are smiling

Pale and dead

Take one sweep

And take one more

The house has learned

A hundred doors

You may come in

Beneath the moon

The floorboards hum

Under street tone

The candy street

The welcome

porch lamp swings, the night draws near

A paper mask lies damp with fear

The hinges groan, the shadows crawl

A small hand knocks behind the wall

Coming, coming, the sweets are