Sticky Sweet Trick-or-Treat

I came up with the last word of this poem earlier this year. It’s what’s called a portmanteau word, which means a made-up word created by blending two real words together, like combining breakfast and lunch to make the word “brunch.”

Now, at the time, it was the beginning of June, and writing a Halloween poem in the middle of spring didn’t make much sense. So I just jotted the word down in my notes and waited. Now that October is here, I thought it was the perfect time to see if I could turn that one silly word into a whole poem, and this is what I came up with.

Sticky Sweet Trick-or-Treat

I went trick-or-treating.
I only got stuff
with marshmallows in it
or marshmallow fluff.

My basket was filled up
with Rice Krispies Treats,
s’mores, Peeps, and Moon Pies,
and other such sweets,
like cocoa with marshmallows
floating on top,
a rocky road bar,
and a marshmallow pop.

I’m not sure what happened.
I guess this must mean
I went trick-or-treating
on Marshmalloween.

— Kenn Nesbitt