ghost-poem | |
by ; | |
copyright © by Ben Whisman; all rights reserved; | |
| in sight? | out of sight? |
| fade in? | fade out? |
| fate in? | fate out? |
| keep in? | keep out? |
| stay in? | stay out? |
| come in? | come out? |
| join me in? | help me out? |
| hide it? | show it? |
| share my life? | turn away? |
| love me? | hate me? |
| courageous? | coward? |
| foolish? | sensible? |
| there is something in my closet. | |
| but it is not a skeleton. | |
| it is a ghost of me. | |
| a part of myself apart, hidden. | |
| someone i am but cannot be. | |
| i want to be my whole self. | |
| i do not want to hide the truth. | |
| yet i do not know how to face it. | |
| but it is me. | |
| it is who and what and how i am. | |
| i cannot hide from god. | |
| i cannot hide from me. | |
| i embrace this ghost into me. | |
| out is how i must be. | |
this poem was originally written for possible inclusion in a short story or novella. less than a week later, , i came out to someone for the first time. i added the last two lines to resolve the change in my mindset on . i have decided to post this poem. it may still end up in a story, we’ll see. the side-by-side stanzas are meant to show the confusion and distress of the poem’s narrator with mixed, undecided pros and cons. finally, the narrator comes to some resolution.