Old Steve
He’s perfectly friendly.
He’s perfectly fine.
His manners are nicer
than yours or than mine.
But no trick-or-treaters
on Halloween Eve
are willing to knock
on the door of Old Steve.His home isn’t haunted.
It seems like the rest:
festooned for the season
to welcome a guest,
but nobody’s willing
to jingle the bell.
Old Steve wonders why,
but the kiddos know well:at all other houses,
on all other streets
where all of the grown ups
give candy and sweets,
the treats at Old Steve’s
fill the ‘treaters with dread:
the dentist – Old Steve –
gives a toothbrush instead.
