Halloween prompts often encourage us to look at transformation in unexpected ways. I wrote this poem in response to a Halloween challenge hosted by Ingrid at Experiments in Fiction in October 2020. If you’d like to visit the original prompt, you’ll find the link below.
>> https://experimentsinfiction.com/2020/10/24/eif-poetry-challenge-8-halloween-special/
The Reincarnation of a Pumpkin
My locked bubble is about to go boom,
A year I’ve been a stranger in my own tomb,
Under a pumpkin lid, hiding my gloom,
Where my world was a rotting cave of doom.
Now these orange walls are my life-giving womb,
Being reborn like a smiling old groom,
I’m breaking away from the master’s dead blooms,
Escaping on the green witch’s magical broom.
Flying over the full moon of autumn,
Where I’ll be able to wear my mask and costume,
Hidden under my orange Kaftan from Khartoum,
Then I’ll invade the newsrooms,
and all the children’s bedrooms.
Some poems emerge from unexpected prompts and take on a life of their own. Looking back, this song still seems a fitting companion for a pumpkin determined to escape its fate.
Until Eyes Hear Sound
Amazon >> Amazon.com : Until Eyes Hear Sound
Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)
Perceptions:
Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)
Tullawalla:
Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books
OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com … and I can send you a PayPal invoice
for the Book, plus Postage.
Ivor Steven © October 2026
