I Put a Spell on You

Time has wound down to a stop—
just like your heart, no ticking clock.
Lightbulbs flicker,
the air vibrates,
becomes viscous,
until you cannot breathe
and heat burns scarlet on your face.
Outside on the street, life is a race,
while inside, everything has s l o w e d
right down.
Thoughts buzz frantically, like a bee
and you’re trapped in amber honey.

I put a spell on you.

Kim M. Russell, 13^th October 2026

This Tuesday at the dVerse Poets Pub, Sanaa is hosting Poetics with Thirteen songs – Thirteen hauntings, a Halloween playlist prompt.

Sanaa says that “October belongs to candlelit rooms, black lace, old songs, and windows glowing against the night. It is a month caught between endings and beginnings—a little melancholy, a little magical, and just dark enough to make you wonder what might be waiting beyond midnight.”

She would like us to have fun and write deliciously spooky poems inspired by a playlist of songs, choosing ONE song of our liking and writing a poem. We should “let the music determine the mood, imagery, setting, and voice. The poem doesn’t have to retell the songs; instead, use each one as a doorway into a different Halloween world.”

I liked the look of ‘I Put a Spell on You’ by Nina Simone: Someone discovers that desire can become a kind of spell. Write about obsession without ever naming it.