I celebrated Halloween for the first time in London. I am forever excited with the idea of children (and adults) dressing up, embracing a character and visiting the neighbours to trick-or-treat. It is a fun-filled social affair. Ironically, I did not get to experience Halloween at its peak in New York because we were living in a secure University apartment where there were not many kids around.
The two years that I celebrated Halloween in London, I count as one of my most memorable holidays. I had bought three huge bags of candies (a mix of chocolates, toffies and mints) and lit tiki torch candles. I had a carved ceramic pumpkin by the door burning bright and warm because of the tea lights within.
A front door decorated so acted as a signal for the children to approach, knock and ask for sweets with a resounding, "trick-or-treat". It was easy for a person belonging to a foreign culture to strike a conversation. We talked about the costumes the children and the adults accompanying them wore. The children enthusiastically talked about their characters before picking up the candies and moving on to the next welcoming door.
'Death' is a poem I wrote about two years ago. I am presenting it again and dedicating it to Halloween. Halloween is celebrated on 31st of October as an appreciation of life after death. Along the same lines, I think of death more as a celebration of a life well-lived. It is my attempt through this poem to talk about death, not morbidly but in an undaunting fact-of-life manner.