Haunted Houses

"Gentle Sleeper, dreaming for a life
Not yet for you to own
With nightmares here and between
That remind you of the love you think you know:"

Just a touch,
Is all it takes to breathe your air again
The lasting shadow of your memory
Proves to be torture
Proves to hate me.

Because I find you everywhere I'm not looking
And I see you in every pretty face
And I hear you in everyone's laughter
And I miss you mostly in the rain.

Your arms for branches
Limb from limb where I used to climb
Your tree house for a heart where I once slept,
Where I escaped to find adventure,
By your storm was blown away.

I woke up naked on earthy ground
Dirty and forsaken by your house
I thought you'd be mine for always
But you were too small, too big, in too many ways.

Your departure brought your ghost
And every new house is now haunted
Shadows passing,

The walls so beautiful, but thick with your voice
The beams so sturdy, but echoing your laughter
Your footsteps creeping by my lover's bed
And my only safety is the door that you make wide open
Beckoning my exit
Only to haunt me again.

-Noemi E Garcia Rigsby