(Poem #14 on new numbering scheme)
at the crest of jeongbal hill the trail levels off among pines i pause no one is around (but i feel the city's there trolling the sky just beyond the trees and rocks) a nearby magpie tilts her head whooshing her blue-green tail feather as if angry or confused while a brown cicada's husk falls discarded from above the air is heavy and flat michelle's ghost touches my cheek i look around unsurprised she asks if i'm not prepared to join her (sometimes she asks things like that or follows me as if no time had passed since) no, i explain, i have things various things still to do like a fish in a deep stream she moves away
What I’m listening to right now
David Lanz, “Green Into Gold.” This song came around randomly on my mp3 player while I was walking home from the hospital this morning. It is from the album Christophori’s Dream, which happens to be Michelle’s “suicide music” – it was what was in the CD player when she took her pills. That’s likely why her ghost visited.
[daily log: walking 5 km]
This is a really beautiful poem, Jared. I’m just now getting around to commenting, even tho I read it within a few days after you posted it. I love the image of the city “trolling the sky” but hidden from view. And the falling cicada husk is a nice touch, as a parallel to Michelle’s ghost moving away “like a fish in a deep stream.”