Tonight, in the absence of light,
there is a revelation like distance
condemning decision

the slow burn from a lit match
and the obtuse smell of sulfur
circle the sky's mauve smile
a child born a ghost stands waiting on
the sidewalk's edge to hear
his father's voice

every car the color of anger
every sound an eulogy written in his
mother's name
every breath the inhalation
of ink stained tires mapping lineless destinations
across a thick skin of pavement
to the places where only streetlights seem to know

bars, beds, the conversations
waiting patiently upon the lips of lovers
soon to be wrapped tightly round
a stale kiss and then forgotten

and every face is a desire to be loved
reborn at the wake of acceptance

even the defeated old man's,
sitting alone in a loquacious coffee shop,
smoking a cigarette, playing solitaire
and nodding off to

sleep.

The sun breaks calm as it sinks
ignites lore; my flesh, flush to sudden chill,
pales aghast against the veranda's
spectral shade of day

they say the man who previously lived in this house
expired in the upstairs bedroom

I scan cracks in sidewalks, search for reference points
in stones and birds, inhale annotations of his being
spilled on grass and dew, but get distracted
with the way words like apparition, supernatural
and esoteric haunt my tongue

in my house, there transpires a game of subtle nuances
a dollop of water drooled upon the bedroom's place rug
the register raised in summer
quiet footsteps flitting across upstairs floorboards

at night I cringe, reverberate tension
circle causation and slip into stark reverie
wondering what the dead speak about behind my back

from my bed, shadows winnow on walls,
I pray suspicion be only moonlight's nervous fingerprints
tipping comfort towards my eyes
transfixed on closed lids as covers cocoon me
tighter than this ashen shade of

dread.