I Have A Phantom Family Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

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