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the Sandman Feb 2016
Hallowe'en night's here!
The kids go out in costume,
Dressed up as Muslims.
Fourteen years ago on this Hallowed Eve
you joined ancestors and fellow poets,
traveling through time, and into God's light.

Always one to find meaning in your days,
perhaps you chose your last one too,
even after months of summoning
all the bravery within you.

Honoring both saints and magical living
especially in our childhood,
even a velvet mermaid's tail
embroidered with shining sequins
manifested in your deft and giving hands.

You are always with us now, Ma/Patt
even as you are always missed.

Today, your long auburn hair that never turned white
tumbles over a deep blue satin costume,
embroidered with silvery stars.

Your generous, enduring smile
is so at home, beloved Ma,
in the Heavenly company
of God's own angels.
My beloved mother made her transition into the Light of God on Hallowed Evening afternoon, October 31, 2001  
©Elisa Maria Argiro
Liis Belle Sep 2015
For my mother, I put on
My perfect ladylike costume
So she’ll go on thinking
That I’m the perfect daughter
And she’ll keep believing that
I want to live like her.

For my father, I put on
The good girl doing her part
Never wanting a brand new start
Sticking to one plan only
For my whole entire life

For my friends, I put on
My best smiling face
And I always laugh along
Pretending nothing is ever wrong
They’re so easy to deceive

For my enemies, I gloss over
The quarrels with my friends
Or my sense of loneliness
I put on my flawless perfect life
Hoping they’ll go away

For strangers, I put on
My most expensive clothes
I walk a different way
It’s funny how I won’t
Ever even see them again

I often wonder now
Who I really am, or was
Before this poison
Swallowed me.
quick!
change your costume
before they discover
what you really are
Meg Howell Aug 2015
I've seen it all around
It's everywhere I go,
To track, to hide, and to desperately follow,
It's the costume of the century,
Varying in look and size,
Anyone may put it on,
and gain a faux happiness in their eyes,
To die with this malicious costume is a feat like no other,
for anyone who dies in it must be a sad, lonely soul,
for the costume is a play,
catching innocent souls,
snatching them up,
with a slow and painful swallow,
and the worst part of all,
is the part you can't see,
that under this costume,
they are truly unhappy,
putting up a smile for society,
well now I'm losing faith in humanity,
throw away your costumes,
It's okay to be sad,
I won't judge you for emotions that every single heart has had
Nicole Dawn May 2015
Put on your costume,
And throw on your mask.
You've got to fit in.
It's your life's only task.

Don't be yourself.
That's ever too lame.
You're far too unique.
Let's all be the same.
Will Rogers III May 2014
Often in the corner of our screens we look,
For love from others we seek.
Notifications come flooding in on Facebook,
After we post the usual critique or picture of our physique.

"You look so cute!" the girls want to hear us say
While the guys, "**** dude you were so wasted last night!" makes them feel accepted.
"So and so is going to this event. Why aren't you?" Facebook says; "Display!"
We fear if we don't, we'll not feel connected.

"I can quit whenever I want to."  we say.
Really? I'd like to see you try just one day.
"But my friends need to know what I'm doing and-"
No. Take your mind off the screen and instead lend a helping hand.

I fear the future;
What my offspring will be exposed to,
That instead of encouragement to have adventure,
They will be even more addicted, their faces to the screen ever more glued.

I grew up playing in the dirt out back,
Now, I am told that it's "friends" I lack.
With my brother I played,
We'd sit and drink lemonade.
Now at night I sit in a dark room,
Wearing an online costume.

I hope that instead I will be myself
And not have to prove myself
To the world that I am unique,
That instead I can make shine what was bleak.

I grew up with Legos. You could say, I was "addicted,"
But now by this computer I have been infected.
Yes Facebook can be a useful tool!
We can use it to get together and "act a fool"
With our friends and have a blast,
Or ask questions to our college class.

But if it takes us away from the outside,
If it takes us away from nature's sky,
Then I'd rather quit;
Then I'd rather benefit
From that which God made
And not to which we have become slaves.

That's my two cents on the matter.
I don't mean this to make a clatter.
I don't even want you to "Like"
Or comment on how our thoughts are alike.

Just read and go about your "Facebooking,"
And maybe as we, in life, keep looking,
We'll find the courage to quit overlooking
What we've spent hours on,
What we've sacrificed our short time upon,
That which will hopefully be forgone.

I heard once that life is but a window
That we as birds fly through.
That we are not in limbo,
But that our lives vanish in a time too few.

I've let Facebook take me away from that which is eternal,
I've let it take me away from writing in my journal
About what I've read in the Bible,
Or from how I've come to see how God is vital.

In "All Is For Your Glory" I sing,
"Catch me up in Your story
All my life, for Your Glory"
Yet I stare blankly at the blue and white
And so easily get distracted from "My Delight."
(written to be read on Facebook)
[composed on  February 26, 2012, revised on 3/22/12 & 3/30/14]
D Apr 2014
I'm so infuriated with myself
How utterly silly of me
To believe if I changed my attitude
Anything would really change
I got far too cocky today,
Thought that if I took charge
He'll have no excuses, no other option
But to obey
How incredibly silly of me
To think that slipping into my costume
Of confidence would be a good look
Even if it was only a costume,
Like the ones on Halloween,
A one-night-a-year type deal
How silly of me

*How silly of me

— The End —