His thoughts echoed in his mind, like screaming in a cave.

"I love you"

He looks at her with a gentle gaze, in hopes to ease her pain.

What she returned, was a hollow stare that showed how much she hurts.

Her poor plagued mind, she wears it like a curse.

Screaming and shouting but nothing comes out, for this poor boy, rarely opens his mouth.

But this young man would give his life to see her smile through,
this thick dark cloud that follows both, around her tiny room.

Your name
Is nails on a chalkboard,
Slipping from my tongue like the slime of unwashed plates.
Vowels left unattended, a man at the door asking to be let in
Whom I don't know.

Your name
Is the creaking of a staircase,
Sending chills up my spine, for I am the only one who's home.
Syllables upended, a vase of ashes on the rug knocked over
By what I tell myself was the wind.

Your name
is the clicking of a lock,
opened from the outside
When only I own the key.
Consonants only hinted, a stillness in the air that settles on my skin.

Your name
Is haunted,
And it's ghost sleeps on my sheets
leaving behind the scent of roses and stomach acid
In it's wake.

There is a stirring in my chest,
an elation I will not and cannot resist.
There was once a moment where all of life stood still
and my feet grew heavy
barren heavy.
Completely empty
and ready to fall.
There is a fire down below
where the depths of sight can’t grow.
It still feeds off my worried brain
like a fetus planted hover-vein.
The Venus Fly Trap sets its will
spiked teeth ready, for the ****.
There is a place where spider webs
and crawling things fit for nub ebb.
All my flagrant floppy body
deteriorates, demotivates, deregulates
into a monster of the fiendish kind
one where holographic glass goes blind.
there is a feed that ***** in silt
it still eats grits, their shiny pelt
slimy, sloshes, ready, in
frigid waters’ under-grin.
Come follow me, dear Venus Trap
into a submarine unsnap
there is a blooming in my groin
where dead things lay there
shivering.

Day turns to night, crowds on the road,
Bonfires ignite, bangers explode.
Fireworks fly high, burst in the air
Dogs bark and cry, smoke everywhere.
Chinese lanterns float way on high
Flicker and burn, light up the sky.
Candle-lit pumpkins that terrorise
With wicked grins and evil eyes.
Cobwebs, spiders, vampires and bats
Ghosts and monsters, witches black cats,
Skeletons skulls, crosses, tomb stones
Look wonderful haunting most homes.

Children galore take to the street
Knock on each door, play trick or treat
Costumes vary, monsters and such
Some quite scary, some not so much
Bags big and small, buckets or tins,
Carried by all to keep treats in.
Getting goodies at every door,
Bars and lollies and so much more;
Monkey nuts, gum, fruit and sweets too  
Money from some, a coin or two.
Kids excited, loving it all,
Each delighted with their own haul.

Halloween treats like colcannon,
Barmbracks with a ring in each one,
Traditional games for everyone,
Snap apple great Halloween fun.
Scary stories of days gone by,
Horror movies to terrify,
Howls and screams, nervous laughter,
Many bad dreams for weeks after.
There is no other night like Halloween,
People more frightened than they've ever been.
A great occasion for young and old,
Cannot wait for the next one, truth be told.

To shake the remnants of mistrust
And throw them to the wind,
To breathe inside the tangles, taste the dust,
Trace the words of silence,
Trace the lines and burns.

"And be awake, they're here!
I hear them coming.
Won't be afraid;
Stand beside me and take my hand.
We have forgiven what they can't forget."

We spun a bottle: truth or dare
And he watched me in the glow.
I told the truth of how I missed his everywhere,
Missed all I didn't know -
Digging wells after the fire.

"And be awake, they're here!
I hear them coming.
Won't be afraid;
Stand beside me and take my hand.
We have forgiven what they can't forget."

And all awhile, they pale to grey,
Twirl the fabric as they go.
We turned the tables and we turned away
To watch the moment grow.
We watched all our moments grow.

We have forgiven.

I behind her watching in the cold room she unzips
my gift blue bagged and pink skinned pungently
I exhale she inhales turning away from
my half-closed eyes closing her eyes
stinging from the stench of
my body given for her
for the blade of her scalpel to
slice she cuts along my spine
and I trace ghostly fingers in a line
down her shivering back to say there
that is the place where
what you see beneath in me is you.

A feeling of sadness lingers in my chest,
like the ghost that haunts me late at night.
Each night I become less and less like a person, and more like the ghost that visits me.
And sadly I cannot stop what has already been started.
And soon,
I will haunt you too.

-o.b.

Tins dangle off bare branches,
Strike to drown the bitter howls.

clang...clang
clang

The train pulls out.

clang...clang...clang
hooooot

I was not on it.
I should have been on it...
After the clang clang clang and
The click clack of the wheels,
Followed the patter of my friend's
Remains on the battleground.

Now they're after me:

clang...clang...clang
hooooot

With  the patter of the rain
Beating on my skull.