A scratching on the concrete path
– thin plastic
The brittle kind
Slight enough to slide slowly, in a low breeze
A tiny ping as something caught
– elastic
A flabby find
Light enough to stretch feebly, then a soft squeeze
An eye-shock from the brazen tones
- the clown mask
The grotesque face
Bright enough to clash basely in the Autumn mood
A smudging from the thickest lips
- crazy cast
All ****** grace
White enough to bold highlight the ****** hues
I wonder why it’s lonely now
- lost costume
But just one part
Strange enough to fare poorly in the candy stakes
Bit too obscure for Halloween
- low volume
No candy heart
Change enough to read oddly, as jokes or aches
Large, ill-set eyehole blues
- hint at bacchanalia
A single tear at sadness
The open mouth at madness
Impossible to choose
- with no paraphernalia
Child, was your clown-face mask
- giggle-shed or snigger-skinned?
Too wet from crying laughter?
Forgot to get it after?
Or did you run too fast,
and lose it in a gust of wind?
Or was it just too complex for
- your fresh face
All comic-dressed
Mixed enough to sit weirdly - no candy here
The others didn’t know to help
- save your place
They tried their best
Fixed enough to get through
The single tear
Perhaps next year
bit too early for halloween poems?
©2024
BLT Webster’s Word of the Day challenge (paraphernalia) date 21st September 2024. "Paraphernalia can refer to objects or items that are used to do a particular activity, as well as objects or items that are typically associated with a particular activity, subject, etc. The word can also refer generally to personal belongings."