Halloween 1950-Something

Halloween was always one of my

Favorite nights of the year,

Although the waiting was torturous

As the date drew near.

 

What to wear? was always the question.

Not rich enough to be trendy,

We put together makeshift costumes,

And Dad would always pretend he

 

Didn't have enough money

To spend on fancy treats.

"Besides," he said, "my theory

Is basically sweets are sweets."

 

We didn't have Darth Vader back then;

Kids were pirates and cats,

Skeletons, hobos, cowboys and Indians,

Devils, witches, and bats.

 

Mummies, scarecrows, fairies, clowns--
Whatever we could devise.

Many kids were simply ghosts

In sheets with holes for eyes.

 

Ah, the treats: chocolate coins,

Cookies, Milky Ways,

Popcorn balls, candy corn,

Necco Wafers for days,

 

Abba-Zabas, Tootsie Rolls,

Bubble gum cigars,

Licorice, Candy cigarettes,

And Snickers candy bars.

 

We got Double Bubble in packs,

Taffy, Cup-O-Gold,

Jujyfruits, M&M's--

A mountain of treats all told.

 

The experts had TWO costumes

And made the rounds twice,

As if one giant bag of candy

Was never going to suffice.

 

Back at home we'd pour out our candy,

And then the bartering started.

Since I had two older brothers,

I was usually outsmarted.

 

Mom and Dad let us monitor

Our own candy stash,

And we survived the candy feast

Without a sugar crash.

 

Until I was fourteen years of age,

I'd never had a cavity,

Despite living in Candyland

In utter sugar depravity.

 

But I can still eat candy now

And not go trick-or-treating,

Though, granted, there are more nutritious

Foods that I should be eating.

 

(11-1-16)