Beware this Halloween
and the days in between,
when knuckles crack
behind the back,
of the flesh-eating ghoul
that sips your soul,
carves telling stones
from finger bones,
Our Fathers and Hail Marys
strung on calcified rosaries.
Fingers that once folded in prayer,
this Halloween beware!
Kim M. Russell, 21st October 2020
My response to Poets and Storytellers United Weekly Scribblings #42: About Those Bones…
I’m keeping things short and sweet today as I’m having problems with my laptop. But I couldn’t resist Magaly’s prompt based on MMT’s haiku. She’s given us three choices, from which we can choose one, two or all three:
- Write poetry or prose which explores where the bones in the poem might’ve come from.
- Write poetry or prose which shows why the subject is clutching a rosary made of human bone.
- Write poetry or prose inspired by the poem.
writing in north norfolk 
This is brilliant
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLike
Loved the rhyming of your poetry. Well done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Robin.
LikeLike
Ooh, deliciously spooky!
LikeLiked by 1 person
👻
LikeLike
I love it. It’s exactly the sort of thing I could imagine being sung in high whispering voices at the beginning of a movie. What a delightful chill this gave me!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Rommy, my evil plan succeeded!
LikeLike
“..fingers that once folded in prayer…”
I’ll be looking at hands differently today, KR. Thanks a bunch.
Wonderful work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cheers Ron!
LikeLike
I really love this bit: “carves telling stones / from finger bones”. The imagery, the rhythm, the way saying the words does to the tongue. And the closing lines are properly spooky.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for your detailed comment, Magaly, and for a great prompt!
LikeLike
Quite seasonally spooky! Very nice! And I love the photo, as I have a Stanhope cross, and now see what the rosary bead portion looked like. I do believe I have, or had, those somewhere too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Lisa!
LikeLike
This just sings itself–quite creepily–as I read it. Just perfect.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Wyndolynne.
LikeLike
Nice ominous tale. Im picturing a campfire a battery torchlight held to soneone’s face and a lot if mouths opened in the shape of o’s
😯 happy Wednesday Kim
Much❤love
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Gillena! Happy Wednesday!❤
LikeLike
Indeed fingers that once folded in prayer BEWARE! I loved this one, Kim.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Bev!
LikeLike
The biggest best possible BOO to you! Loved this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Helen! 🙂
LikeLike
You took my tiny little poem and ran with it! Fantastic write, Kim. Now, if the children will just heed that warning…
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike
“Fingers that once folded in prayer…” I LOVE that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Margaret!
LikeLike