Ghosts remain even when there is
no unfinished business between
the departed and the living. Everything—
your favorites in a friend’s playlist,
your Rumi quotes in my bookcase,
your wheat-skinned people a sudden arrival
in droves—a totemic presence
spun by a mystic wheel.
They came before you.
You left
my palms without tangible keepsakes.
My yearning, sand
at the bottom of an hourglass. Still,
you remain even when I am done seeking.
No longer feeling
the thump of our once-upon-a-time pulse.
How strange
love becomes after loving. Ossified,
all memento mori.
Remember suspension, sand slipping,
flesh fragmenting.
Remember you must die.
Nothing lives
save for a beautiful tale
– a song, a poem, company –
enshrined in a skull.
This poem was first published in The Hooghly Review’s Murals issue, released on December 25, 2024.
Photo of skulls in Naples, Italy by Maria Mocerino from The Hooghly Review’s Murals Issue
