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It was a dark and dismal All Hallow’s Eve
And the moon was hanging low
The wind’s icy touch reached through the trees
To a young soldier on the path below
He did not heed its warning
He spurred his stallion on
For he was to meet his sweet love
By the old stone mill pond
But she was a witch of evil intent
Who wanted General Washington’s plan
Traitors and she had conspired
To torture the soldier man
He saw her in the moonlight
Not noticing her vicious sneer
But as his horse drew closer
The moon’s rays made her evil clear
Alas it was oh too late
They had circled him fore and aft
The last sound that the soldier heard
Was the witch’s cackling laugh
And even though his body was ripped and torn
A bloodied welted mass
He would not give up the plan
To that scheming awful lass
And in her rage and fury
She wished the soldier dead
And with a shining silver knife
She severed off his head
She laughed as into the pond it went
She shrieked out a curse
“Your broken body will walk again
For your head, you will always search”
And with this awful epithet
They tossed him into a narrow hole
They spit and danced upon the upturned dirt
To hell, they condemned his soul
And on the next All Hallow’s Eve
When the moon was hanging low
The winds icy touch reached through the trees
To the shallow grave below
And in the light of the morning sun
At the old witch’s homestead
They found her jack-o-lantern missing
Replaced with her bloodless head
And still on an All Hallow’s Eve
When the moon is hanging low
A pumpkin grins atop a dummy
That lost its head long ago
And if you should ever cross this dark valley
And your soul fills with dread
Be wise my friends and do not dally
Or you, too, could lose your head
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Happy Halloween!
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In tribute to Mr. Washington Irving, 1783-1859
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©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog, 2013
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