Halloween

        It's nothing but the wind, I swear
        ratting the shutters,
        rain collecting in the gutters--
        no reason to beware.

        No madman lurks in hiding on the stair
        no specters stir the bedroom's clutter,
        it's nothing but the wind.  I swear

        I glimpse a frightened shadow in the flutter
        of the curtain, some remnant of my nightmare
        but when I flip the light, there's nothing there,
        no reason to beware.

        "That late movie dealt me quite a scare,"
        I whisper and start to rise, when the air
        is splintered by a falling branch.  I mutter,
        "It's nothing."  But the wind, I swear

is tearing at the shutters,
        rain overflowing from the gutters.
        I've sprung a leak my logic can't repair:
        it's nothing but the wind, I swear,
        good reason to beware.