It was probably October of 1963.
John F. Kennedy wasn’t quite dead yet.
And I wasn’t quite… SIX!
Five and Seven Months is what I was!
Chronologically Speaking! At Least!
Oh! And it wasn’t quite Halloween either!
Go FIGURE that one out… Pythagoras!

My Mother was a Halloween Freak Show Artiste!
To SAY the LEAST!
What SHE could DO with a Jack-O-Lantern
And a Kirby Vacuum Cleaner
Will Scar Your Soul for Life!
[it sure beats the lame Clive Barker, “Tear Your Soul Apart!” line from Hellraiser!]
Poke in the Dragon Eye to YOU Clive! Poke in the Dragon Eye!
Are you even STILL Alive? But I… digress!

My Mother sure did look like a Witch by the time 1963 rolled around.
I can vouch for that. I had a Photographic Memory, you Know.
She had the Warts. Yes! She did! Big ones too! A couple of them right on her nose!
She had the Cackle! Oh boy! She did have that!
She did make that Jack-O-Lantern… Scream for Mercy!
And… and… and… abracadabra style, because, when you SAY it… you… MAKE IT!
She SAID, in fact, that she WAS a Witch! Many times! Mostly, around Halloween Time.

That wasn’t ALL she said. She said, “Edna Braun is a Witch too!”
That’s our Somewhat Freaky… well… downright crazy… neighbor across the street.
This was Fresno, California, actually. Well, actually, Clovis, near Fresno.
You know. Just a short walk from the Tarpei Elementary School?
Yeah! That’s where I went to Kindergarten! You too? Oh wow! Synchronicity City!

Of course, Edna went along with it. And my Mother was a Real Stand Up
Trouble Maker. She PROVED it! She said, “I can Summon the Dead! Right Edna?”
I can JUST IMAGINE that sidelong glance. But Vulnerable First Attention Little Old Me!
I was primed… and ready… for anything… hallucinatory! And I got it! From my MOM!

So there we all were! Making the Scene! Waiting for the Bell to Ring!
The Candle was Lit! The Wine Glass was Inverted!
And ALL FINGERS PERVERTED…
Into the External Ganglia
Of an Around the Table
Neuro-Quantum-Spirit-Network.

It appeared!
Faint and whispy!
Like it was made out of cloud or smoke!
It looked kind of like a fat little caterpillar!
Pure White!
And the Way it moved
Made me wonder
What had happened to the Gravity
Under the Wine Glass?

It was beautiful! Like nothing my Third Eye had ever seen before.
But it was a reverberation, going backwards in Time, I think,
To the Days of Future Not Yet Passed
When the Appearance of a Little Spirit Caterpillar Trapped Under a Wine Glass
Would be Entirely Eclipsed by Other Visions, and Journeys, that I have never yet shared with any of you.

Dragon Days of Future Mum…
Are Done!
Please put away your tray tables, fasten your seat belts, and hang on…
For Dear Dragon Life!

Because…
My Dragon Started Singing…
And I don’t Know How to Shut It Up!
Or… if I should EVEN Dare… to TRY!