City Ghosts Talk To Me When You Don't

It was an October evening when
the muddy waters of our pond dried up.
That night we sat beside it and sobbed
while our mothers watched from afar.
We were only seven.

Autumn evenings still make me shiver.
I hear city ghosts crying their lungs out
while clawing at their chests for something other than air.
We did too when we found only fury in each other’s eyes.
We were only not seven.

I am in a dream –
it is midnight and my throat runs dry, like our pond,
as I see you bite down and cut open your lower lip
in an attempt to leave through the backdoor without making a sound.
I do not stop you;
instead I walk around the city
looking for strangers with bloodied lips to kiss.

The city ghosts give me company.
I hear their voices,
they tell me it is not a dream.

And I laugh because they are wrong.

I know I am dreaming.

I am dreaming.

I am d r e a m i –
...

-

©sharodi h.
24th April, 2019.