For Halloween

The Psychic Advisor’s House:

La Llorona

The grass is gray — the way a saint’s eyes
de-color, vision-blasted, after thirty
desert days. The shrubs are lean, the dirty
lies of worldly pride all stripped to bone.
Her door is there to knock. One old and wise
has guiding words for those who walk alone.

On certain nights, a bluish light escapes
the blackout windows, pulsing crazy streaks.
The chimney channels horrid cries and shrieks.
A tattered silhouette flies round the eaves,
grasping, crushing, rending empty shapes,
her gone-forever children, how she grieves.

The painted sign in front: Your Horoscope.
Love and Marriage, Riches, Loss, and Hope.

Karl Stull is a retired copywriter and editor. He began in textbook publishing and moved on to marketing. Now he writes for the love of words.