Contempt Prior to Investigation

The old fat men
Sit alongside
Their skinny old
Wives as the carnival
Passes through town
On its way to the train
And the next town
Down the tracks.
They missed it again,
The carnival, that is:
The clowns, elephants,
Fat ladies, tattooed men,
Lions, tigers, zebras;
A trust of magic
(And tent strippers,
Ooh-la-la, oh-my-my).
                       Just like
They missed fireworks
On the Fourth of July,
They missed Christmas
This year and last, and
Labor Day, what’s that?
Nobody works here, anyhow!
Nobody missed Hanukah
Because nobody is Jewish.
         No, nobody
At all. The only thing watched
Regularly: the moon
As it changes from
A sliver to a full circle.

They complain
There's nothing to do
In this town, but
Tonight the moon's
Full and it's
A well-known fact
There are ghouls,
Werewolves, ogres
& vampires living
        in town.
This place is haunted,
Yes, it’s as haunted
                   as hell.
And all, everyone,
Celebrates Halloween
In the fall. These old
Fat men and their
Skinny old wives
Look to the moon
For ways to be
Unhealthy, un-weathy
And unwise

-- Samuel Vargo