Anothe Happy Halloween Poem by Jim Yerman

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

"Is there anyone in the back room of your bookstore? " A father asked me. "My daughter would like to know."
"Not that I'm aware of." When I answered…the father's face began to glow.

"My daughter is obsessed with ghosts." He said. "And she is certain…without a doubt…she heard a ghost in your back room…trying to get out."

For me to explain the reason behind this phenomenon would, scientifically speaking, be a mistake…but when someone opens the front door to our store…our back door rattles and shakes.

I explained this to her father…about the quirkiness of our door…
and we both decided, when it comes right down to it,
we liked his daughter's version more.

So I left the counter and positioned myself…poised by our front door…
while her father walked back to tell his daughter there is a ghost in our bookstore.

On her father's signal I opened the doors…with flare (if I was given to boast) .
and we both watched his daughter stop…and stare…and wonder about our ghost.

She was smiling as she ran to the counter.
"I heard your ghost." She cried.
In all my years upon this Earth I've never seen eyes so wide!

She left with a couple of ghost books in her hands and a huge smile on her face…
ever-confident she heard the ghost who resides within this space…

When I was young Halloween was special…in ways at the time I did not know…
my mom would cut two holes in a sheet…and off, as a ghost, I'd go.

It was all about the candy I'd amass…trick-or-treating everywhere….
But this Halloween will always be special…I'll always cherish standing there…
being reminded of the wonder of family
meeting the ghost in our back room…
and the child who first heard it there.