The Mad Bagpiper of the Berkeley Hills

The Mad Bagpiper of the Berkeley Hills

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In Berkeley
There is a haunted forest
In Tilden Park.

Along inspiration point
high up in the hills
with killer views of the Bay

Old-timers say
the forest was haunted
by many ghosts of the past.

including the Ohlone Indians
who used to live there.

but during the summer and fall
of 1974 there were rumors
that there was a new ghost

a mad bagpiper
who roamed the hills
playing his mournful music.

one Halloween night
late at night,
my friends and I went to Tilden

as we walked in the forest
we heard through the fog
the sound of a bagpiper.

we were a bit apprehensive
wondering if we were going
to encounter the ghost,

but the bagpiper never appeared
the sounds faded away.

but that night I learned
to appreciate that mournful sound
of the mad bagpiper
of the Berkeley hills.




NEW PROMPT: Tomorrow, June 27, is Bagpipe Appreciation Day. Write a story or poem about someone learning to appreciate bagpipes.

Based on a true story