Thanks, Doug. The poem my little bow to Edgar Allen Poe and Helen Adam, my
two favorite 'spooks' in the business - at least in USA lit. Scotland must
be full of them. Helen was Scottish by birth - and a lovely person who I
knew when she was in the SF Bay Area. But the readings of her Ballads could
provide a scare for days. As in, hide under the blankets at night, so the
spirits won't see you and come through the windows.
Stephen
Blog: http://stephenvincent.net/blog/
> With the photo even more powerful, Stephen. But it catches, for sure....
>
> Doug
> On 16-Nov-05, at 1:17 AM, Stephen Vincent wrote:
>
>> Ghost Chest
>>
>> My mother keeps a ghost upon
>> Her hand carved chest. You lift
>> And open the lock with a certain fear
>> You know what lies within
>> Emptiness or Spirits:
>> What flies there
>> What cries there:
>> Who knows the configurations -
>> The silks, the cottons, the wool
>> She might have otherwise - in multiples -
>> Delicately woven, folded, kept?
>> I knew a woman once
>> The coffin outside her house
>> Deep under the family Oak
>> At night a thread sped forth
>> From behind the wooden latch
>> Across the lawn and up the porch
>> The white thread wound to
>> Take her life - in one quick jerk -
>> By the flute of her delicate throat.
>> Night after night I sit and wonder
>> Who is the ghost - what can she tell me? -
>> Latched to the lock upon my mother's chest.
>>
>> Stephen Vincent
>> Picture of the "Ghost Chest" is available on my blog:
>> Blog: http://stephenvincent.net/blog/
>>
>>
> Douglas Barbour
> 11655 - 72 Avenue NW
> Edmonton Ab T6G 0B9
> (780) 436 3320
>
> Each leaf a runnel the
> roofs now skiffs in green
> Išve never done anything
> but begin.
> Lisa Robertson
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