I HAVE A PHANTOM FAMILY

 

 

I HAVE A PHANTOM FAMILY

I have a phantom family

At least of those that on earth remain

Who tell me not of funerals

Or of the long rains

Who act as though I were no leaf

Upon the family tree

Of weddings and of christenings

They hide the news from me

Should strangers ask for news of them

I say I cannot lie

Toward me this phantom family

Oh nothing will apprise.

And yet I love them

As I may

If only they could see

By ghosting me

They ghost themselves

A sorrow deep to me.

On Heaven’s shore

the radiant bloom

And there I hope to see

My brothers and my sisters

And comfort them

And feel

That there a new home

We will make

They wont ashamed be

Because I live

And plant my dream

In gentle poverty.

mary angela douglas 28 march 2024