The Clickety Man

It’s Halloween, Mama, so please don’t be mad.
You found me, quite safe, so instead, let’s be glad.
And now that we’re home and I’m warm in my fleece,
May I have my candy, if only a piece?
You brought me back early from tricks and from treats,
Don’t punish me more by forbidding me sweets.
“Why did I stray off as we went down the lane?”
That Clickety Man called, “Let’s play by the train.”
What “Clickety Man?” Oh, the one by the tracks,
Where clickety wheels make their clickety-clacks.
And the clickety bones that poke through his pants,
Play clickety beats, for his clickety dance.
The October wind blows his skin off in flakes,
While whistling a tune through the holes that it makes.
But the skeleton grin that lies on his face,
Is not truly happy, he feels out of place.
First, struck by an engine that came in a rush,
His unburied body decayed in the brush.
And that means old Clickety’s without a bed,
No box, and no hole, and no stone overhead.
So I said, “Come with me, nobody will mind.”
But as not to scare you, he followed behind.
It’s Halloween, Mama, so please don’t be mad.
Just you, me, and Clickety won’t be all bad.
You shouldn’t be giggling! Don’t laugh anymore!
That clickety knock is my friend at the door!

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by James Michael Shoberg