I met a ghost in our den recently
It looked all pale and white
He tried a spooky thing on me
And I faked some fright
Cuz I felt sorry for him that night
I thought it was a guy ghost
Judging by the groaning’s tone
But, to be honest I’m not sure if
You can gender a ghost by its moan
I invited it to sit down for coffee
But Ghostie just kind of floated there
So I said, “Suit yourself”
And pulled up a chair
I asked Ghostie, “Cream or sugar?”
And it made a Chewbacca sound
So I said, “OK, one moan for yes, two for no”
To get things off the ground
Ghostie moaned twice for sugar
And once for cream
So I said, “Watching the carbs?”
And Ghostie started to shriek
At first I thought maybe
The cup was too hot
But when I asked,
I got two groans
So I guess it was not
Clearly, this was gonna be
A yes/no exchange
So the interactions
Were a little bit strained
I was curious about
What made up Ghostie’s life
I learned he’d been a guy
Worked too much, had a loving wife
When I asked if he’d been happy
Again, a shriek
And I realized there were no words
He could use to speak
So I turned to sports
Had he a favorite team?
After a lot of moans
Twas the Dodgers, it seemed
They were mine too
So we had a bond
From Koufax to Ohtani
On and on
He was very frustrated
At his limitations with words
Shrieking loudly
Each time it occurred
I comforted him
And then related
That no one listens to me
And I too get frustrated
I described my sour outlook
On so many things
A career going nowhere
And life’s many stings
He nodded at me
Occasionally shrieked
I assumed he was probably
Wanting to speak
So I asked him if he
Was needing to go
And he moaned once
Indicating it so
One last question. How had he become a ghost?
Two moans for disease, accident and stress
And then I hit it
One moan for unhappiness
I thanked him for sharing
And he went away
Which is when my wife came in to say
“I heard you talking to yourself”
“Wow, you’re looking pale. Are you OK?”
And I shrieked
(Published as Poem of the Day on Autumn Sky Daily 10.30.24 – https://autumnskypoetrydaily.com/)
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