it used to be like this:
little monsters and cartoon characters
carrying bags or plastic pumpkins
ran up to doors answered by
doting neighbors,
laughed and compared their haul
as they ran to the next house.
today, though, I’ve seen the most worrying things:
a stranger in a black balaclava
holding loops of zip ties;
men with bellys hanging over their belts
clad in green, marching with arms;
inflatable unicorns and dragons
dancing in a halo of tear gas;
a priest throwing his arms out
and jiggling his legs as a pepper ball
strikes his face.
and now the children run faster
and the neighbors don’t answer their doors
and there is no laughter in the street.
it didn’t use to be this way.
it doesn’t have to be this way.
Oct 31, 2025
Oct 31, 2025 at 6:16 PM UTC
it used to be like this:
little monsters and cartoon characters
carrying bags or plastic pumpkins
ran up to doors answered by
doting neighbors,
laughed and compared their haul
as they ran to the next house.
today, though, I’ve seen the most worrying things:
a stranger in a black balaclava
holding loops of zip ties;
men with bellys hanging over their belts
clad in green, marching with arms;
inflatable unicorns and dragons
dancing in a halo of tear gas;
a priest throwing his arms out
and jiggling his legs as a pepper ball
strikes his face.
and now the children run faster
and the neighbors don’t answer their doors
and there is no laughter in the street.
it didn’t use to be this way.
it doesn’t have to be this way.