I remember creeping reverently past The yawning maw Snarling braches, overgrown foliage Sad eye sockets The defeated roof Listing drunkenly to the left The black spirals on the ground Where the fire had scored earth bare Crouched from the sanctity of the sidewalk Damp palm snaking back to Clasp tight My best friend’s hand
Fear skittering up our spines We skirted past poisonous green weeds That swayed in the yard Unkempt and our eyes Darted, seeking, feral For movement in that open doorway Her shadow The witch
Years pass
Looking out into suburbia Manicured green boxes And cookie-cutter plans From my own cracked window My newly acquired reno, I spot a flash of moving colour From beyond the overgrown hyacinths A tousled flash of curls between the green Puzzlement ripples as Three lanky preadolescent forms Snake from the protection of my shaggy firs Thin chests taking a breath before Their whippy arms point accusing And I barely see a flash before The clutched rock leaves the Stupid-looking red headed one’s hand Crashing through my upstairs master
And I hear it
Witch, witch, where’s the witch?
And I feel it.
My eyes beadily narrow Peering over my bulbous nose Shoulders hunching Toes curl And I reach for The broom leaning next The painter’s cloth Grabbing on with knobbly fingers Hurling myself Out Of The door
Their eyes widened Disbelieving As they spot me And thumbs clutched between index fingers They run Leaving me cackling Breathless
While my familiar Looks up from Sunning her black self On the step.