All Hallow's Eve

Poem - by Rosalie Hendon

Physiologically, fear and excitement are both forms of arousal.

Wax pools on the mantle

thick and opaque

Candles gutter in the still air

We are expectant, hushed

Unspoken questions on our lips–

what next?

A ouija board?

A commune with the dead?

Eyes meet and look away

Fingertips brush

Wine on our tongues

Electricity, anticipation

coursing through veins

The wind howls

We shiver

draw closer

shoulders huddled together

hands hesitant

extending (self-consciously)

to find each other’s

Circle formed

fingers linked

Pulses fluttering together

We want to see what happens

and we’re terrified