Other Than Magic

Gail grunted, grimaced, strained to no avail;
her Halloween costume would not come off.
She cried out to parents, she cried to friends
yet nothing seemed to help the girl.  Her mask
was as tight as Chinese handcuffs, and her
costume incarcerated her in silk and lace
and an abundance of rhinestone sequins.
Gail wept.  “Oh please free me from this
costume!”  Then right away, Merlin appeared
and said that there was witchcraft in the air: 
“Do not despair, I have the means to stop
all spells, all incantations on this night;”
“I’ll wave my wand and speak strong words
and free this angel from the grip of evil!”
Gail’s little face beneath the mask was wet,
her long blonde hair a prisoner also
beneath a wig half mauve and half maroon.
Then Merlin tapped and almost lost his hat
as family and neighbors milled around,
as wolves howled in the distance, as cold 
winds whipped through gnarled oaks
and donkeys brayed—“Be not afraid,”
Merlin commanded, with a sense of self.
Gail’s father slurped coffee, then barked,
“C’mon!”  as others in a panic joined
impatience as it wafted through the air.
That Merlin blather swallowed by reality,
frightened lil’ Gail unloosed from costume
gone astray by an old man down the street,
who noticed bubble gum all over her face,
along with zippers fouled by silky fabric.



31 Lines
Writer’s Cramp Co-Winner
10-26-19