The Ghoul

The Ghoul

By Jack Prelutsky





The gruesome ghoul, the grisly ghoul,

without the slightest noise

waits patiently beside the school

to feast on girls and boys.



He lunges fiercely through the air

as they come out to play,

then grabs a couple by the hair

and drags them far away.



He cracks their bones and snaps their backs

and squeezes out their lungs,

he chews their thumbs like candy snacks

and pulls apart their tongues.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">He slices their stomachs

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">and bites their hearts

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">and tears their flesh to shreds,

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">he swallows their toes like toasted tarts

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">and gobbles down their heads.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Fingers, elbows, hands and knees

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">and arms and legs and feet –

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">he eats them with delight and ease,

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">for every part’s a treat.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">And when the gruesome, grisly ghoul

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">has nothing left to chew,

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">he hurries to another school

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">and waits….perhaps for you.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">