Two Old Ghosts from Goblin Green

Once upon a foggy night

With not a single star in sight

Two old ghosts sat down for dinner

The taller one called Thin

The smaller one called Thinner

They ate a soggy meal of mush

On platters made of ice and slush

Crispy, crunchy hairs of bears

Pips from very prickly pears

All washed down with gulps of air.

They ate until their tums were full

And spoke of times when they would pull

Their flimsy cloaks high in the air

And screech at people as they fled.

As fast as possible back to bed

But now they knew they’d reached a time

No longer were they in their prime

They had to fly to Goblin Green

Where once they lived in people's dreams

Haunting inside soft moon beams.

Goblin Green has one long street

Made of cobbles and sticky sweets

It was a place where you could meet

A shroud of ghouls reading books

And chat to bats and ancient spooks.

A school for ghosts in Goblin Green

So small that it could not be seen

 Silent rooms where magic words

Would be spoken or overheard

By the ghosts of passing birds.

Every house in Goblin Green

Had no walls or had no floors

Some had disobedient doors

Their doorbells shouting ‘we’re all out’

As footsteps tip-toed round about.

At number one, lived Mr Parsons

He grew false teeth in his garden

Each set sold  in tiny cartons

And calling out ‘I beg your pardon

Here you'll find no better bargain.’

Next door was number twenty-two

 Where little Mrs Tickle-Tottle

 Grew huge blue beans in a bottle

 She was exactly two feet two

And well known for her magic brew

Which boiled into a sea mist stew.

She made magic lolly ices too.

The more you ate, the more they grew.

She plants chocolates in a row,

 Which change to sweet trees as they grow.

Her two children, Crim and Crum

Had two very rounded tums

They ate pears and prunes and plums

And hypnotised their neighbour's bees

To bring pure honey for their tea

When friends flew in to say hello

Berries, pears, prunes and plums

Always were the first to go

Thin and Thinner stroked their beards

As all the goodies disappeared

Off went the ghosts to number twelve

Where they watched two hairy elves

Cheat at card games with a ghoul

His face turned the colours of a bruise

As he screeched, ‘I always lose.’

The two ghosts then passed through the door

And straight into number forty-four

Where the sisters Sophie Spinner

And Suzie Springtime Snowdrop Spinner

Danced around with black jackdaws

Until their feet turned strangely blue

And out of breath sat down to chew

Pots of honey from house twenty-two.

They both agreed that Goblin Green

Had the best bees they’d ever seen.

The ghosts then went to number six

Where nearby and quite transfixed

They stared at dazzling Rainbow fish

Who saluted as they mixed

With frogs who hopped along with chicks

As they flicked up stones and sticks

Looking out for seeds to pick.

When Thinner with one finger click

And a whistle sent all the chicks

Back to their house at number six.

But now the ghosts were getting weaker

And their future seemed even bleaker

No more nightmares no more dreaming

No more haunting no more screaming  

 And near the end of all their scheming.

Thin then wailed and said to Thinner

‘Now we’ve eaten our last dinner

‘I just wish we could begin

And start our time as ghosts again.

 Let’s go and see our kith and kin

The night has still a while to go

 And even though we’re getting slow

 We’ve really nothing else to lose

 For the last time we can choose

 To listen to the ghostly news.

So, they flew as night-time fell

To the last toll of the bell

When spirits are about to tell

The secret of all magic spells

That sleep inside enchanted wells

Thin and Thinner so pleased to see

Ghosts in classes floating free

While their teachers moulded clay

Into phantoms who loved to play.

As the two ghosts did in their school days.

Thin and Thinner then said goodbye

As they shimmered in the sky

A great wind came in mighty bursts

Howling as it did its worst

And changed the ghosts back into dust.

And now forever they will blend 

And mix together with their friends

In a wonderful world that cannot end

It’s a place that may be in your dreams

The magical homes in Goblin Green.