Ghosts

A family moves into our old home.

Meaning, it is old in age.

Also,

Old.

Meaning it was ours when we were living.

My husband and I.

We passed away three days

Apart.

A year

Ago.

Still, we wander.

How do we settle in a new place after fifty

Five years

Together?

In the same

Home?

We are not

Wise

We were not in

Life.

We are not in

Death.

———-

The new family is a couple.

Together.

Twenty years. Two daughters. One son.

The son, twelve.  Daniel.

The daughters, nine, and five. Stella and

Serena.

———-

My husband smiles. He says, darling you’ve done

Your

Homework.

I say, yes. This place was and is important to

Us.

I say, look, sweetheart. They keep our roses neatly

Trimmed. And they’ve kept the house

The Robin’s egg blue I love so.

Then I say,

The oak.

How it has grown in only one

Year.

———-

He says, shall we go in?  They won’t see

Us.

I surprise myself by saying,

No.

———-

I like the outside. It’s June.

Roses.

Pink, yellow, burgundy, true red.

Heavenly scent.

I can’t take one.

Against the

Rules.

———-

Darkness falls

I take in a quick shallow breath.

I can, still, though I’m no longer living.

As can

Husband

I see our little calico kitty, Charlotte in the shadows that remain. Under the blue

Hydrangea.

Madeleine, across the street, took her

In.

I long to hold her one more time.

Husband says, sweetie. She can’t see

Us.

And I know this. We are transparent.

My heart

Breaks. I can hear it.

The sound of a small branch snapping.

A lilac branch heavy with blossoms.

Fleeting.

———-

I cry. Harder than I did when I was living.

In pain.

I say I only want to touch the front door of the home I love

So much.

Also, against the rules. Look, but don’t

Touch.

We could enter, without

Touching.  But still

Feeling.

It’s too much.

Husband pulls a pair of clippers from a

Pocket.

I say, but Charles!

The rules!

But he walks to my favorite bush,

An antique pink, clips off a fully blossomed

Rose. Stem attached.

He says, you know, Emily, that I have never been

A strict rule

Follower.

I hold it to my heart.

Sweet scent, thorns, and all.