novembre ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- our building manager orchestrates halloween she has calloused hands and arthritic fingers doubled over into constant crooks, just like her nose. she knocks on my door and i follow her rounded back down the hallway, trying to keep up but she is a fast walker. she touched up her roots so now her whole head is hot-pink again, and the sides of her hair flap back at me like little flags as she walks. outside i am ambushed by perplexed neighbors chatting over paper cups filled with cider. my eyes follow the lamplight and i see a dozen pumpkins of various size lined up like doormen outside our building's front stoop. the italian violinist was the only one to carve a recognizable face into her jack o'lantern; she draws me over to the round white squash and points out its eyelashes. mine is a girl. see? and it has a little hat? candles are lit inside each one, illuminating our dank patch of street that no trick or treater dare cross. 8:58 pm - 11.03.04 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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