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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