Chris DeLine

Cedar Rapids, IA

Hope for Ghosts

Published in Strays.

In love with a ghost
Ideas mostly
Like, what could have been
If only everything was different
Including us.

To feel that close to you
To touch skin
To feel you pull away
To sense hesitation
To see careful restraint in your eyes
To hear the distance in your voice
Reminding myself it’s only just a dream
Doesn’t make it hurt any less.

There’s no way to know
Who you really are now
Pictures are real
And a few moments together
Spread over years
But mostly nothing
Mostly my imagination
Mostly hope that ghosts exist
That they’ll continue to haunt
Because some days it feels like
Without them there
Really might be nothing.