Stuart Bartow

Auguries

In the north country village where I live, even though I’m on a forgotten side street, there are always a fair number of trick-or-treaters. Some I never forget. A “cereal killer” appeared wearing a ketchup stained white sheet impaled with mini-cereal boxes. A zombie prom queen. A cemetery bride. This year an angel of death like a black butterfly.

If a true angel of death comes to my door one night seeking me, maybe this rehearsal will help. I’ll offer chocolate first, hoping she returns to the unknown.

Halloween
a witch rings
my dead doorbell

---

About the Author

Stuart Bartow lives in the Taconics region of New York State, where he chairs the Battenkill Conservancy, an environmental organization working on the Vermont-New York border. His most recent book of haiku and haibun is One Branch, published by Red Moon Press.