Halloween Poetry

by Erik Neibaur

Erik handed me a sheet of poems last night. They really made me grin! This is his first entry into our fun & games. Hope you enjoy them!

Halloween is a busy season
When all the adults groan
They have to do things beyond reason
To stop their kids from moans
And when they get rid of stress
They still have kids to dress!

We all watch the Halloween season
And with great anticipation and care
As we watch the little kiddies
Get just a little giddy
About what they are going to wear!

Ghouls and goblins dance
Noisily around a fire
All of them dressed up
As a make-up Lizzy Maguire!

Little kids knocking
You find nowhere to hide
So you run around town
Dressed up as a clown
So for the little ones provide!

Halloween is a scary night
But not as scary when
All the kids from last year
Are at your doorstep yet again!

-Erik Neibaur, 10/28/03

Halloween is a Little Like Christmas

Halloween is a little like Christmas,
With only a few differences involved.
Instead of hanging stockings, we hang a little head.
Instead of mailing postcards, we mail pumpkins instead.
Instead of Santa and elves, you see vampires and goblins.
Instead of getting presents, you get candy.
And on Halloween we dress as odd things, but on Christmas
Almost everyone has a Santa hat!
Halloween is a little like Christmas
But only in some ways.

-Erik Neibaur, 10/28/03

[A fun fact: Halloween is exactly like Christmas for mathematicians! Halloween is October 31. Christmas is December 25. October is the old "eighth month" (hence the "oct", just like octal), while December is the old "tenth month" (with the "dec" meaning ten, just like decimal). And an "octal" 31 is three eights and a one. Which is 24 + 1, or 25 in "decimal" notation! Isaac Asimov wrote a delightful short mystery whose solution hinged on this odd relationship.]

Erik's Jack o' Lantern for 2003