Ghost Poem by Robert Sheridan

At first, a slight faint or trace
Then a displaced Civil War image
Reflected in a gold-framed mirror
Her body, not her soul, now nonexistent.

She moved from room to room noiselessly
No cold drafts, no sounds of footsteps
Glided along in her silken white dress
As to her beauty, I couldn’t help but notice

Her facial expression was intimate, yet unidentifiable
Watching more closely, they became involuntary –
As-if testifying to thoughts she was keeping secret
Then with her hands, began gesturing...

I was sent to the home to collect paranormal evidence
Make observations using electrical equipment of various types
She had been seen numerous times in a second story window –
Passer-byes reactions ranged from fainting to screams

When I entered the post-Civil War home
I soon discovered that she was more than just a limitation
of human perception – she was more than a sighting
The only thing in this home merely mislaid was time

... gesturing, to come outside to the hollow ground
I followed her cautiously to a small cemetery, somewhat somber
She pointed to her husband’s grave, died in 1862, then pointed to another –
a headstone with my name on it, we both had died at Antietam.

'2007'