Samhain Unrest

All throughout Scotland, the Isle of Man,
folks celebrate Samhain as best they can.
A time the veil thins the most, it is said;
it is the veil between living and dead.

And so dead kin are invited to feast;
they are not harmful--no, not in the least.
Honored ancestors, in spirit so led,
placed at the tables to share meat and bread.

Now it so happens one name of renown,
put on a feast near a burial ground.
Gilchrist the clan--a fine ancestral line,
filling the tables with mutton and wine.

But nonetheless as with Samhain formats,
Gilchrist held feast at the “Cave of the Cats.”
They did not know that the dead who remain,
looked at trespassers with total disdain.

So as the Gilchrist ancestors partook,
(and with no more than a cursory look),
dead from the “Cave of the Cats” place of rest,
rose from the ground and began to protest.

Old Angus Gilchrist, while gnawing on lamb,
watched flying mutton along with a yam.
Then Uncle Colin, though dead to the world,
saw wine leave his stein because it was hurled.

Gruff cousin David and his first-born Fife,
saw that the dead kin were given new life.
And as the ghosts of the Cats flew on by,
one of the clan threw a gooseberry pie.

Logan and Gregor, with Moray and Peck,
weren’t in the spirit but said, “What the heck!”
Thus as the spirits of Cat-Cave held fast,
guests of the Samhain dismissed their repast.

Plus there was Rory who said to his Aunt,
“I’ll wrest the souls if the rest of them can’t.”
But by that time there were apples and grapes,
cast from the table in spirited scrapes.

Needless to say it became quite a scene,
(one of the spirits upset a tureen).
In Scottish lore it’s remembered, all right;
forever know as the Samhain food fight.

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Samhain (pronounced, “SOW-in”)