...the woman ascending has never visited the devil.
Prologue to an earlier time Los Angeles, November 1, 2020 — The prose verse below marked an earlier prologue, an unknowable introduction to an unimaginable period thrown at us daily since I first posted “Scary Halloween” four years ago, on October 31, 2016.
Back then, I still lived in the bubble of my culture, sheltered by my conviction, albeit shaky, that almost nothing could keep Hillary Clinton from becoming the first woman President.
As we drove away from the election party that night, hosted by the Feminist Majority — an organization devoted to fostering women’s equality — we could only imagine the dread of what might come. Only days before, I had written:
*
The Scariest Halloween Ever Los Angeles, October 31, 2016 — Here comes the scariest Halloween ever, descending eight days before the electoral climax of a thirty-years war, waged from the light to the dark ends of America’s mirrored corridors.
Trick-or-treat citizens hallucinate inside their costumes, befuddled by the digitized democracy’s carnival.
Producers, anchors, and pundit goblins cast shadows across the blaring screens, tacitly contending that an impotent, rage-filled narcissist and a female public servant stem from the same species.
Women surprise themselves and others with self-hate or know who is the enemy, who is the ally.
Angry, frightened males, stiffed by currency theft beat their chests, then kneel to embrace the shanks of their plundering enemies.
Invited inside the gates by the pink-skinned, white-haired cowardice of hush hush congressional bigotry, the Trojan Trumpkin emerges from the horse to vomit calumny and hate into the courtyard.
Smarmy cyber worms extract, spin, and scatter cobwebs spun from past deeds, judged corrupt by others.
Flickering polls dance a devil’s dance, shifting, promising, teasing, snatching hope, sparking anger, frustration, and helplessness at the speed of the gigahertz.
This is our halloween, the harvest of a perilous season. And to all the desperate, frightened misogynists, the woman ascending has never visited the devil.
Charles DegelmanWriter, editor, and educator based in Los Angeles. He's also played a lot of music. Degelman teaches writing at California State University, Los Angeles.
Degelman lives in the hills of Hollywood with his companion on the road of life, four cats, assorted dogs, and a coterie of communard brothers and sisters.
Well done! You’re right, this IS the scariest Halloween ever, and you have captured the intensity with your amazing prose-poetry. I am blown away.
This prompt caught me in this state of great concern. Writing this dark piece alleviated (only slightly) my sense of injustice and helplessness. A unique time in our lives, this Halloween turn from October to November.
You’ve conjured the specter of this Halloween perfectly. Ghosts and goblins pale in comparison. Perfect choice of illustration, too.
Thanks, John. I think Bosch painted in another time when religion and politics generated great civil unrest. According to Wikipedia, ‘recent art historians theorize that [Bosch’s] irony offers the option of detachment, both from the real world and from the painted fantasy world, thus appealing to both conservative and progressive viewers. Sound familiar? This halloween seems to usher us into our current hopeful nightmare.
Charles, I daresay your pen was sparking fire tonight. As always, your writing was intense and true. I feel paralyzed by all the horrible possibilities that might come to pass. However, I will vote, and then prepare..
Here it is, past Halloween, hours before Election Day and I’ve just found this essay. WOW! Perfect for this putrid, horrifying season. And yes, Bosch, did paint the horrors of hell better than most. My brother and I used to play “Danse Macabre” by Saint-Saens to frighten ourselves at this time of year. You have captured the moment perfectly in tone poem.
I wrote this piece thinking more of the current political climate than of Halloween, but it’s probably applicable to both. I had Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Right Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” running though my head as I drafted this piece, reminding me that we have all lived through an earlier approach to civil conflict. Love to imagine you guys writhing under the scary tones of “Macabre.”
I understood that it was about the current political situation and not Halloween, per se. Today’s polling calms me a bit. Clearly the stock market wants Hillary to win also. I awoke from a nightmare one morning last week that Trump had won. Had me really shaken up. And yes, my brother and I were quite a sight, with the lights out, hidden under drapery, imagining frightful things while the music played. I always followed his lead. I was a pest.
Dear Pest,
Contrary to your understandable Trump elected nightmare, I’m thinking that, as Hillary becomes the above-mentioned ‘woman ascending’ women who have fought the good fight will feel a deep, limbic affirmation unlike anything women have experienced since before the witch-hunts.
Let it be so!
From a lovable, former pest.
Can I hold my breath for about 24 hours? It should be over by then.
Wow. Déja vu all over again. Another perilous season, except this time we can more than imagine the dread that might come.
Tuesday night? Be prepared. Wear your dancing shoes. 😎
We’ve been to hell, Joe bring us home.
And the other guy? Book him, Danno. 😎
I’ll bring the handcuffs, you bring the California grape!
Handcuffs, straitjacket, or stretcher, any means will do.
Tar & feathered, drawn & quartered, guillotined?
I like tarring and feathering, a good ol’ American method for dealing with snake oil salesmen.
Whatever, even a polite US marshal with a warrant would do.
Right-o! The simplest and most effective method of all. One from the Southern District of New York might be the most appropriate.
I am filled with more dread this Halloween than I was in 2016. Back then, I was appalled that such a vile man could become the Republican candidate for President. Never thought he would win. Now, what you described in 2016 has been our reality and we all know it could happen again. Let’s pray for a better rending to our Halloween 2020 nightmare.
Ironic to read the comments from four years ago. Now we are waiting with baited breath, hoping to rid ourselves of this nightmare. Given what took place four years ago, I dare not hope and won’t really breathe until ALL the votes are counted (however long that may take, and however many lawsuits need to be settled…can Coney Barrett be forced to recuse herself?). I already have a headache, just thinking about the days ahead.
We will do very well tomorrow. The reaction (they are, after all, reactionaries) will be devious, dirty, and nasty, but in the end, whether we like it or not, even the President must stand naked. We will have turned them out, all of them, with their greed, arrogance, stupidity, and reptilian absence of human emotions. They will go, some quicker than others, but they will all go.