They were pretty much amazed to hear the stories of how we as kids went though the neighborhood ALONE making a little noise, collecting candy, and generally having a fun time.

I used to take them to school with me to show the kids. I enjoy getting them out once a year and raising the roof. That’s okay, because I have enough to do me. Then a book came out and that ended that. I bought all of them I ran across, and used them to decorate for the un-holy-day. Back in the Golden Age of Collecting (for me, the 1980s) these Halloween noisemakers could be found in thrifts and flea markets for $1 or even less. That’s what happened to me with Halloween and Christmas collectibles. There is no sound, no sound at all.Stop by The Small Nouns and catch up on the Poetry Friday goings-on in the blogosphere.Collectors used to say that you could collect an item cheaply until some fool writes a book about it. Here's a poem by Behn called 'Lost': I shall remember chuffs the train Just look at what's happening in Wisconsin.

Perhaps we need what normal children seem not to have lost-a faintly amused view of what is.It's as if Behn could see what America would be like in 2011-'confused and wooed by hate on one side and fear on the other.' That's it in a nutshell. It becomes harder to know what is just or honest. With everyone consigned to one side or the other, we are confused and wooed by hate on one side and fear on the other. Every other paragraph has a quotable line or two, this one is my favorite: Keyed up as we are by the incessant din of causes, we have lost composure and the ability to think our own thoughts. I absolutely love it! Behn came from another time-a time when poets and poetry still had a presence in American life. It is a series of short essays on Behn's life, children, and poetry. Only one library in NH still had it listed in our state system! I received the book last week and started right in on it. It sounded interesting, so I put in an interlibrary loan request for it since it is out of print (published in 1968).

In my search I found mention of another Behn title, Chrysalis: Concerning Children and Poetry. I thought about the book the other day and went looking for it again. Many years ago when I first became interested in haiku, I came across a book by Harry Behn called Cricket Songs: Japanese Haiku.

Halloween poem by harry behn