Dear Reader,

This poem was written as a lament. It observes a culture that has learned to celebrate the night of masks and candy while forgetting the day a hammer struck a door and the Word was set free. It is not an argument against autumn or costume, but a reminder of what has been set aside: Christ the Cornerstone, and the light and salvation that are found in Him. May it be read as both a warning and an invitation.

— The Poet

When Halloween is crowned above the Day
That Reformation marked with hammer’s blow,
The theses fade where pumpkins hold their sway,
And candy outweighs all the Word can show.

The dead are dressed with care the living know
No longer for the truth that dwelt within;
Children barter history for the glow
Of porch lights and the sweets they gather in.

Sermons yield before the candy’s power,
What once unbound the conscience now retreats;
While skeletons for sale now claim the hour
In place of Luther’s call to higher feats.

So culture keeps its Halloween of fear,
And crowns the pumpkin where the theses stood;
Reformation Day grows thin and mere,
Till Christ the Cornerstone is cast aside.

They choose demonic darkness over light,
And crown as Satan’s holiday the night;
They spurn the salvation found in Christ,
And love the shade above the Living Light.