jack-o’-lantern slit
fraying my cheeks as you carve
through me, an angular bruise.
you were never one to wait
for frost to start the decay

just open wider, darling.

shrapnel infesting
your lungs, I haunt you:
labyrinthine and patient
as the last bullet.

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a little early for the season, but then again, it’s not really about halloween. format is my adaptation of haiku/tanka. I was never one to follow rules.