Octoberween Writing Challenge (issued by JMMBB)

1. Grave
the pull down of dirt
underfoot of
angelic monuments
to fellows and lasses
defeated by their pasts

2. Tree
a sturdy trunk
twisted and mangled
by eons of torture
by birds and small boys
wielding beaks
and swords cut out of lumber
from fallen foes
and fallen friends alike

3. Dusk
pink hues streak the horizon
as thick as gesso
on an approaching night canvas

4. Fog
you can hear your voice
echoed back from the bogs and mores
you know are resting wet and treacherous
beneath the malevolent carpet of grey

5. Rain
wetting your hair, your socks
through your shoes
and your spirit through layers of praise
and good chinese food

6. Moon
when she's full in the night sky
the local boys and their great grandfathers
pull their waiters up around their chests
and dig for razor clams in her basking glow
then shuck them for brunch the next day

7. Sun
even in the softness of autumn's light
she will burn the surface of the skin
as you carelessly wheel through wisps of leaves
admiring the crushing of acorns underfoot

8. Road
paved with dirt and leaves
and abandoned acorns
it will soon find itself a home
to candy wrappers and wasted pumpkin seeds

9. House
her heart is in the kitchen
pipping away the hot smoke
of pickling and jarring the harvest
filling the pantry
to last the winter like a squirrel
collecting and preparing
while a pie cools on a sill
under watchful eye of the neighborhood tom cat

10. River
here eyes scan the bottom
of the murky, green river
as she floats away
for the last time

11. Cloud
forming wide and dark
against the orange of changing foliage
it is ominous and filled with the promise
of heavy rain

12. Stars
the boys from the village watched
as each and every star in the sky
fell closer to earth
and jumped back away
in time with their bending knees
landing on the surface of a trampoline
they aren't allowed to be on at night

13. Letter
aged by rain and ragged
edges curled
the message has been stuck
undelivered
between the sides of the mailbox
for two months now
and no one has noticed

14. Telephone
the land line doesn't ring anymore

15. Cellar
six of the neighborhood's finest misfits
between the ages of 5 and 12
meet in secret
in the cellar
of the abandoned house on broad street
where the floor is made of gravel
and beneath half a foot of wet dirt
they have discovered a secret collection
of cat bones and broken glass bottles

16. Neighbor
they call him
the Tall Man

17. Sleep
Sam doesn't sleep on nights
when the moon is full
he prefers to pretend
he is a werewolf
and sneaks off into the nearby woods
shooting small creatures
with the bow and arrows he stole
from camp two summers ago

18. Book
she used a few thick books
to prop up her hallowe'en decorations
not realizing that one of them
concealed the weapon
her husband used
to shoot the neighbor's dog

19. Silence
broken by the ticking
and tedious toking
of various clocks
in unfamiliar hallways
and landings
in unfamiliar houses
on streets
with unfamiliar names

20. Scream
stuck in her throat