Bus tires hiss on wet asphalt veins
Camera strap cuts deep in cold rain
Jack-o'-lanterns grin through chain-link fence
I frame each smile in grainy sense
Flashbulb ghosts on Halloween night
Silver halide steals pale moonlight
Skeleton keys won't lock these frames
Wind develops what the dark claims
Corner store sells candy corn by weight
My thumb advances film to twenty-eight
Plastic fangs drop in a gutter's grin
I focus sharp on paper-thin skin
Abandoned lot where bonfires breathe
Smoke curls like film strips underneath
Witch hat silhouettes stretch on brick walls
Shutter speed catches what night calls
Flashbulb ghosts on Halloween night
Silver halide steals pale moonlight
Skeleton keys won't lock these frames
Wind develops what the dark claims
Negative strips hang in bathroom steam
Chemicals burn like a fever dream
Each print reveals what eyes can't find
Darkroom light leaves ghosts behind
Dawn bleaches pumpkins to gray rind
Last frame wound tight, left behind
Bus engine coughs, I climb aboard
Pocket full of night the city stored
Flashbulb ghosts on Halloween night
Silver halide steals pale moonlight
Skeleton keys won't lock these frames
Wind develops what the dark claims
Shutter clicks. Frame ends. Dark prints.
