We knew what it meant
to go get candy
in Elmira
at the end of October
It meant don’t even start bragging
about your costume
till you’d dragged your winter coat
out of the hall closet
because winter liked to butt in early
like that uncle
who shows up before you set the table
and eats the food anyway
I wanted to be anybody -
a monster
a cowboy
a ninja
a space ranger
but mostly
I wanted the neighborhood to see me
for once
Not the kid from down the block
not someone’s little brother
not the boy who fell off his bike
in July
but whatever hero
I believed myself to be
Except -
those coats
swallowed you whole
made everybody look like
bundled-up snowmen
and if we didn’t yell who we were
every ten steps
nobody could tell us apart
in the dark
Still we went
puffing steam like dragons
boots clomping
over leaves that didn’t know
if they wanted to crunch
or go soggy on us
Plastic masks stuck to your face
if you tried to tough it out
but most of us shoved them up
on top of our heads
and squinted through the cold
None of it mattered -
because for those hours
Elmira belonged to us
and every porch light
was a yes
and every door opened
like it knew our names
And if somebody handed you
a popcorn ball
or a fistful of candy bars
or those weird black-and-orange things
you only saw once a year -
you pocketed it
proud
like treasure
because Halloween was the one night
we were allowed
to take and take and take
Later
back home
we dumped our fortunes
on the carpet
coins and gems
from a kingdom we conquered
block by block
Coats off
ears burning
hands coming back to life
in the warm
And I swear
I believed
I could be anyone
under that coat -
anyone at all -
even if nobody else
could see it yet.
GBS jr
2016
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