Different Slants

My 68^th Halloween. Trick or Treat?

by Robert M. Katzman © October 31, 2018

Well, of course, Trick

What did you expect?

The Trick for me is, this far gone

Is to remember what the Treats were

As life gradually unfolded

If you were born and wanted

Instead of endured and abused

Held and prized

Instead of cursed and beaten

That’s a Treat

If you weren’t born blind

Could walk on your own

Speak if you chose to

And hear music and birds

That’s a Treat

If you were part of a culture

With customs and ceremonies

A unique language and special days

A certain history and perspective

That’s a Treat

If you fell in deeply in love

Like falling into the Grand Canyon

Without a net

Just that someone to catch you

That’s a Treat

If you can grow old together

Witness your children’s lives

Have them care for you

And include you in everything

That’s a Treat

If one day you realize

You two are the oldest people

In the room, any room

And people want to know what you know

That’s a Treat

I come from an Ancient People

Sometimes absorbed by the Kabbalah

Where numbers can equal words

When added together in different ways

This is my 68^thHalloween

Today is October 31^st

Also my half-birthday

Spirits, what magic may I have today?

6 plus 8 equals 14

3 plus 1 equals 4

Together they equal 18

18 in Judaism means Life

This is the only year in my life

Such a combination was possible

Though alone now, it means hope, too

And for me, people, that’s a Treat

Happy Halloween

No matter who you are

What you believe

Or how you look

*****************

Dedicated to Joy, who already knows,

and to Nancy, here, now, two years later,

Who chased my Ghosts away

Or at least

Most of them