It is not uncommon for the dying to be visited
by ghosts. Haunting emissaries, semi-real,
fill the void between now and what’s next,
play a last foil to life, mirroring
past and future, miring both
in the veiled confusing present.
And when we visit—lucid with reports,
using old tricks to stir memory,
commentary, or “forgotten in the name
of self-preservation” emotion—we hope to see
someone who loves us, someone we love
looking less like they’ve just seen a ghost.