he waited in the pumpkin patch
that entire night
fell asleep in the cold with the chill
wind drying his tears
on his cheeks.
waited until he couldn’t stay
awake any longer and just
tuckered out
sally came with him
waited an hour or two before she
got too tired and headed home
to sleep
she told him not to stay up too late
that he’d catch his death
of cold
gave him a small light kiss
on the cheek
and he never noticed
there were a few times that he thought
was that him over there?
no, just the dog
just a trick of the light
pulled his blanket closer
and sighed
when he finally fell asleep
he dreamed
of the Great Pumpkin holding him close
telling him it would be
all right
and when he woke up there was no one
just the pumpkins
and his blanket
but somehow for him
that was enough
