Aconitum napellus watches all
Dried purple hoods adorn the hall
Root remembers loam and rain
Seeds wait patient in the grain
I watch the masked ones spin the floor
Aconitum napellus knows the score
Velvet cloaks brush dried-up pine
Halloween drinks blood-red wine
Candelabra flames kiss copper leaf
Guests arrive in woven grief
Masks of porcelain and bone
Hide the faces they have known
I watch the masked ones spin the floor
Aconitum napellus knows the score
Velvet cloaks brush dried-up pine
Halloween drinks blood-red wine
Waltz begins with heavy tread
Alkaloid dreams inside each head
Petiole stiffens in the draft
Couples spin a toxic shaft
I watch the masked ones spin the floor
Aconitum napellus knows the score
Velvet cloaks brush dried-up pine
Halloween drinks blood-red wine
Clock strikes twelve with brass tongue
Sepals tremble, tightly strung
Organ breathes through cracked glass pane
Cello bows draw long refrain
Rhizome remembers winter soil
Before the ball, before the oil
Before the masks, before the wine
Roots drank deep in darkness time
Masks now slip at dawn's first gray
Stamens catch the waning day
Aconitum holds its pose
Halloween night finally goes
I watch the masked ones spin the floor
Aconitum napellus knows the score
Velvet cloaks brush dried-up pine
Halloween drinks blood-red wine
Last notes fade on hollow wood
Wolfsbane stands where silence stood
Dried hoods nod in morning breeze
Roots dream deep in subterranean seas