(One more by Mr. Collinson. We look forward to his next visit–LA)
How long do you mourn a ghost?
Is a year or two too long?
Try three, for it was three years ago,
she left me and disappeared,
and now she’s become a ghost that fills the silence,
they say I should move on, forget the past,
and let go of the ghost,
that’s easier said than done, when you’re clinging to a ghost,
it’s like I’m going out with a ghost,
a ghost that’s with me every day,
any where I go I see her, waving and smiling,
she’s present in the laughter and scent of every room i enter,
always there in my memory, the past is real and alive,
the present is an illusion, like a dream of the dead,
they say I need to focus on the present,
but the ghost, you see, she won’t let me,
I won’t let me,
the ghost and I won’t let go of one another,
she’s my shadow,
becoming inseparable,
always the ghost and I,
wherever I go, the ghost goes as well,
together walking through the past,
I hesitate to walk on without her,
I won’t let go of the ghost,
can’t move on, like I’m trapped,
a million times they say it cannot be, it cannot be,
yet the ghost is still here with me,
like I’m shackled to a ghost,
blocking everything, but the past and the ghost,
today I’m here, still with the ghost,
you see there are some ghosts,
you can’t simply shake off and send away,
like the ghost that I haunt everyday.
Saragun Springs 
Simon
That last line changes everything. Even without it the work is first rate, but the simple addition is immense.
Leila
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That’s exactly what I felt (and I didn’t cheat and read your comment first, Leila); that it was the living person who was unwilling to let the spirit go, thus accounting for the haunting. It changes the timbre of the poem completely, and for the better. Exceptional showcase this week, Simon and Leila. Thank you both.
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Bill
Yes–Simon is brilliant! The line gives the readers two poems for one in a real way!
Leila
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I’m glad you liked my poems. I tend to write Gothic poems that are uneasy and unsettling. I like to set them in the present time, as the fears and monsters that are near and well known to us are much more frightening than a fear that is distant. How much more frightening when you discover the monster is sitting opposite you, or even worse you yourself are the monster.
I hope to publish “Deadlands” in September, its a book of contemporary Gothic poetry. It contains more poems like the ones published in Saragun Springs.
Many thanks to Leila for giving me an opportunity to publish some of my gothic poems.
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Hi Simon
Dale and I really love your stuff, as our readers concur. We look forward to the other work you have coming up later in the year!
Leila
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