ROMP held its first annual Halloween Haiku Contest this year in 2017. Each day of the month, a vintage Halloween postcard was posted and poets were encouraged to pick one of those pieces and write a haiku about it.

On October 27, we had a Halloween Haiku Party at Wonder City Coffee, in downtown Locust Grove, and winners for three contests were announced:

• Best Poem
• Best Costume
• Best Reading

Each 1st place winner received a $50 prize.

 

And the BEST POEM winners (out of 69 entries) are:

1st Place

Fright Takes Flight

Dark skies kiss strange flight
Witches, clowns and elves delight
Nightmares now abound.

–Meredith Reeder

 

2nd Place

October

Peel back soft corn silks
curling amber crunching leaves
dark nights beginning

–Lora Collier

 

 

 

 

 

 

3rd Place

Fall Flight

Night sky travelers
Up above the thumbnail moon
Smiling witch soars past

–Sheri Gourd

 

 

Best Reading: Hayley Goodman (as Godzilla)

 

Best Costume: 1st Place: The Yates Sisters & 2nd Place: Hayley Goodman

Halloween Haiku Entries

Scary Skeletons

Frightening faces
Terrifying skeletons.
Scary spirits haunt.

–Mason Duck

Forewarning of Witches on Halloween Night

Bring forth the white owls!
Let the witches come. Tonight,
A demon they’ll meet.

–Carissa Sanders

The Halloween Pumpkin

Kitty on pumpkin.
Kid is behind the pumpkin.
Halloween tonight.

–April Sanders

Happy Halloween

I love Halloween.
I looked through my windowpane.
A witch dabbed at me.

–KierrstynTegethoff

Halloween Mourning

Halloween mourning
The bats flying overhead
Witching hour has come.

–Tristin Brunner

October

Peel back soft corn silks
Curling amber crunching leaves
Dark nights beginning.

–Lora Collier

Pumpkin Riding

Flying a pumpkin
The seed guts are all cut out
Air gusting my hair

–Madison Collier

Frightening Pumpkins

Frightening pumpkins
They take a bite out of you.
Then they spit you out.

–Mason Duck

Devil’s Grin

The devil comes out.
The Jack-o-lantern grins wide.
The night is alive.

–Nancy June

All’s Well

The jester dancing
Smoke encircles pumpkin grin
Black cat rubbing feet

–Nancy June

Moonlit Ride

Shooting stars moon bright
Witch on her broom, owl beside
Halloween tonight.

–Nancy June

Jack’s Smile

Sweetly smile at me
Jack o lantern you will be
Mine to light tonight.

–Nancy June

Legerdemain

Millinery disguise
Who will guard us in the night
All the pumpkins bloom

-Alysha Little

Wild Ride

Imagination
Goes wild on Halloween night:
Witches, goblins, ghouls.

–Betty Perkins

Vision

The nature of things
Is never so clear as when
Our eyes are opened.

–Betty Perkins

Happy Halloween!

May you have a great
Day on Halloween, and don’t
Forget to scream BOO!!!

–Maggie Passmore

The Devil Pops Out

The devil pops out
The big, red, scary devil
Oh no the devil

–Justin Price

Small Pumpkin

The pumpkin is small
This pumpkin is a big loser
The pumpkin is stupid

–Jesse Remington

Dead Whispers

Whistling whispers,
Happily dancing around
In the dark shadows

–Emilee Bilyeu

No More Ahead

The ind in my hair
Leaving my past behind me
With nowhere to go

–Emilee Bilyeu

Don’t Get Hugs

Spooky bugs and scary thugs
Scare little children away
And they don’t get hugs.

–Megan Rogers

The Ghost Goes Away

A single ghost haunts
The street and looks for a treat
The ghost goes away.

–Megan Rogers

Weaver’s Witchy Class

Weaver’s witchy class
May the Weaver witch show herself
Look mom there she is.

–Madison Quantie

Halloween Night

Kids on this night just
People on Halloween night
They just love this night!

–Madison Quantie

One Little Witch

One little witch
Around a big bowl of HATE
Staring at you! Boo!

–Madison Quantie

Guess What Night It Is!

Cats, pumpkins and kids
Guess what night, it’s tonight
It’s Halloween night.

–Madison Quantie

The Witch Riding Her Broom

Look, there is the witch
The witch that is riding the broom
Vroom, and there she goes.

–Jessie Robinson

Black Cat

There is the black cat
The pitch black cat without luck
And the yellow eyes

–Jessie Robinson

A Black Cat and 4 Pumpkins

A little black cat
The cat say Happy Halloween
To four pumpkins

–Katelyn Baisden

Devil Friend

A big fat pumpkin
Had a baby pumpkin to
Had a devil friend

–Katelyn Baisden

Full of Apples

Dark scary Halloween
Her mouth too full of apples
To say trick or treat.

–Reece Wilson

Pirate Flag

Not scared of the night
The pirate flag waving high
Lanterns watch with fright

–Reece Wilson

Pickled Legged Pumpkin

There was a girl
Pumpkin with pickled legs
Til the break of day.

–Katelyn Baisden

Blood

She is over her pot
Boiling up some evil blood
Run she is coming for you

–Savanna White

Time

Time to go to bed
And the little girl knows
But she’s hiding.

–Savanna White

The Kids

Kids sit around
While the smoke fills the little room.
Do the kids know?

–Savanna White

Devil

Red pumpkin devil
He’s coming out for candy
Do you see him now?

–Savanna White

Devils to the Moon

Three little devils
Danced under the moon
As the owl watched

–Katelyn Baisden

A Pumpkin-Headed Witch

A pumpkin witch
With a pumpkin’s head
Flew to the sky

–Katelyn Baisden

Scary Witch

The witch is scary.
The kids think that she is scary.
They are very dumb.

–Kaylynn Heath

Powerful Halloween Women

With snake in my hand
Apples at my feet, clock chimes
12 and mice retreat.

–Anne-Marie Reed

Mad in Here

Alfred E. Newman
Opens the door to strangeness
Scream ruffle muffled.

–Sheri Gourd

Fall Flight

Night sky travelers
Up above the thumbnail moon
Smiling witch soars past

–Sheri Gourd

Inky eve descends
Hoots and howls and screeches heard
Hide our eyes til morn.

–Kelly Palmer

High Step

A sinister gourd
Owl with encircling wing
Let us dance a jig

–Sheri Gourd

Whoo dances below
I perch on the moon wonder
Festival for whoo

–Liz Ellis

Chores Before Fun

Sweep up the cobwebs
Clean up the toys and garden
Dress up for fall fun.

–Sheri Gourd

Halloween Preparation

Halloween décor:
I sweep away real cobwebs
To put up fake ones.

–Gavin Rogers

The Witches’ Life

Witches ride broomsticks
Witches do spells and potions
They ride with black cats.

–Danielle Bates

He’s Back

Lantern makes dim light.
It’s dark. I’m alone and scared.
He will not find me.

–Nick Kannmore

Wasteland

It was a dark night
Nothing alive was in sight
Darkness rules the world

–Nick Kannmore

Happy Halloween!

Children fill the streets
Getting candy from strangers
Happy Halloween.

–Nick Kannmore

Witch with a Broomstick

Witch with a big stick
Fly into the scary night
With her big black hat.

–Ethan Curtis

Hidden Night

Hidden in the night
The girl hides in shadow night
In the darkest light.

–Sarah Rutherford

Scared Child

The ghost screams and shrieks
The ghost runs at scared girl
The girl faints in fear.

–Sarah Rutherford

Scary Movies

Scary movies yay
Scary movies are so fun
Scare me every time

–Clair Bennett

Dark Woods

Dark creepy woods . . .
A black cat in a tall tree
Wind! Quiet again.

–Carter Lewis

The Halloween Night

Scary scary night
In the Halloween night
Bats flying up high

–Saul Rush

Halloween

Scare, candy, pumpkin,
Leaves, wind, scary, costumes,
Little, girls, crying

–Matthew Jones

The Black Cat

There was a black cat . . .
The black cat jumped on a tree.
It fell off the tree.

–Zane Morrow

Trick or Treat

I’m just a bat girl
Standing in front of a door
Asking for candy.

–Gavin Rogers

Ghost

I hate scary ghost
Scary ghost lives at the post
And he likes to roast.

–Jace Davis

Jack O

Darn Jack O Lantern!
I tried to carve a pumpkin
But cut my finger

–Gavin Rogers

Halloween Night Magic

By the silver moon
Light and dark dance together
On this special night

–Tamara Pittman Breckenridge

Fright Takes Flight

Dark skies kiss strange flight
Witches, clowns and elves delight
Nightmares now abound.

–Meredith Reeder

Dance you costumed ghouls
I will warn you with my song
Of Whoo approaches

–Liz Ellis

Catastrophe swept
Away by beautiful witch
This cannot be true

–Kelly Palmer

Twinkle, twinkle eye
Black cat, black hat, I spy
Wink, witchy, float, then fly!

–Roxann Yates

 

Vintage Halloween Postcards: