by Horatio Saunders – Brasenose Chess Club (Board 2)

‘Trick or treat?’ they said,
‘Trick’ you replied, so sure that all the same the treat
would be there, left by mum and dad,
In the pumpkin,
By the porch.

‘School or sleep?’ they said,
‘Sleep’ you cried,
Because the school calendar kept ticking by for what
seemed like a forever of unremarkable days,
Until four.

‘Hide or seek?’ they said,
‘I’ll hide’ you’d think,
And hide you did, from days and memories with friends you thought
would never get bored of you,
Or close that door.

‘Work or play?’ they’d say,
And work’s what you chose,
To make something of the nothing you feared you’d be but
they never saw you as nothing,
You didn’t need more.

‘Coming home soon?’ they asked,
‘can’t this week’ you texted back,

Because work was busy and your parents weren’t going anywhere,
until there were no texts left
for you to ignore.

‘How was your day?’ she’d ask,
‘fine’ you’d respond,
Because a lie was easier than explaining the weight of all of the things you’d left
unsaid,
That now would never be said, lingering in
the silence, forevermore.

‘Trick or treat?’ they say,
‘Treat’ you reply,
But the treats aren’t left out anymore, and there’s no one but you
in the house with no pumpkin,
By the porch.