With Halloween just around the corner, I decided it was time to write a new Halloween poem. Or maybe a monster poem. But then I thought, why not write both?

Of course, there are plenty of poems about monsters being scary, chasing people, or lurking in dark places. But I wanted to do something a little different. I started wondering what monsters might do for fun when they’re not busy frightening everybody.

That’s when I imagined a group of famous monsters getting together at a haunted house for a friendly game night. After all, even Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman probably enjoy playing games with their friends now and then.

But what kinds of games would monsters play? Would they play the same games we do, or would they have their own spooky versions? Once I started thinking about that, I came up with all sorts of silly possibilities, and the poem practically wrote itself.

The result is a poem called “Game Night at the Haunted House.” It’s about a group of monsters having a wonderful time playing some rather unusual games. And, as you’ll discover, they’re always happy to welcome new players.

At least, that’s what they say.

Game Night at the Haunted House

It’s Game Night at the Haunted House
on Halloween this year.
The Wolfman, Mummy, Frankenstein,
and Dracula are here.

They’ve played a game of Duck, Duck, Ghost,
Brain Toss, and Tic-Tac-Boo,
plus Monster Polo, Slime-on Says,
and Dead Light, Green Light too.

They had such fun with Hide-and-Shriek,
and playing Truth-or-Scare,
but all the monsters hope that, next year,
you can join them there.

They say that you should come and play.
They’ll try their best to beat you.
So join them at the Haunted House.
They promise not to eat you.

— Kenn Nesbitt

Autumn is definitely here! The days are getting colder, it’s starting to rain more often where I live, and we’ve had some pretty windy days lately.

When I go out in the rain, I usually wear a hat to keep the raindrops off my face and glasses. Of course, when it’s windy too, that creates another problem. Sometimes I have to hold onto my hat to keep it from blowing away. It’s hard to enjoy a walk when the weather is trying to borrow your clothes.

One day, while I was holding my hat firmly on my head, I started wondering what would happen if I let go. How far would it fly? Could I catch it? And where might it lead me if I had to chase it?

That little “what if” became “While Walking Down the Street Today.” I liked imagining a hat that always stayed just out of reach, turning an ordinary walk into a much longer adventure. Sometimes all you need to get a story started is a little breeze. This is…

While Walking Down the Street Today

While walking down the street today
my hat blew off and flew away.
I chased it down the avenue
but couldn’t catch it. On it flew.
I chased that hat across a bridge,
then up along a rocky ridge,
then through a park and past a school,
and all around a swimming pool,
beside a creek, and up a hill,
and on and on and on until…
it suddenly came to a stop!
It fell and landed right on top
of someone. It was my friend Jim.
He smiled at me. I smiled at him.
It felt so good to see his smile.
We stayed and chatted for a while.
We had so many things to say.
I’m glad my hat blew off today.

— Kenn Nesbitt

The beginning of a new school year can be exciting, but it can also be a little scary. You might wonder who you’ll sit with, whether you’ll make new friends, or whether the other kids will think you’re cool. That was one of the ideas that got me started on this poem.

The other idea has been bouncing around in my head for years. Once, during an assembly at an elementary school, I was speaking to about 200 fourth- and fifth-graders. We were going to write a poem together, so I asked for a volunteer to tell me their favorite thing ever… something we could use as the subject of our poem.

I called on one student, and they enthusiastically shouted, “Space llamas!”

I thought that was hilarious and I told them so, though I heard a lot of other kids groan, which just goes to show that we don’t all like the same things and that’s okay. We ended up writing about regular llamas that day, but I never forgot those space llamas. Every so often, they would wander back into my imagination, waiting for the right poem.

Well, I finally found a place for them. Here’s a back-to-school poem about feeling nervous, trying to fit in, and, of course, Space Llamas.

Space Llamas

I dyed my hair green for the first day of school.
I wore my new Space Llamas shirt to look cool.
I stepped on the bus, but then felt like a fool.
It only had one empty seat.

It looked like I’d have to sit right next to him;
The kid who would always get picked first in gym.
My guts did a backflip. The world seemed to dim.
I gulped and looked down at my feet.

My legs turned to noodles. I whispered a prayer.
I trudged to that seat thinking, “This isn’t fair.
Oh, why’d I decide to have neon-green hair?
I’d rather be home with the flu.”

I plodded along for what felt like a mile,
then took off my pack and stepped out of the aisle.
He glanced at my getup, then gave me a smile
and said, “I like Space Llamas too.”

— Kenn Nesbitt