A Poem for Halloween

The Hawthorn Berry

Let’s take a trip
to East Londonderry
and pay a visit
to The Hawthorn Berry –
the last old gothic apothecary.
It’s a gathering place
for weary undertakers
to relax and chat
over nightshade boilermakers
and other odd toddies.
They talk about funerals
and dead bodies–
the tricks of the trade,
how crypts are made,
and helpful hints
like which tints of makeup
make cheeks appear rosiest.
Which headstones are costliest.
Which coffins are coziest.
Even the nosiest
eavesdroppers, gawkers,
and local loud talkers
find the atmosphere calming.
it must be the candles
and herbs for embalming
down at Hawthorn Berry –
the last old gothic apothecary.

© calef brown 2009