Ghost hands caress my skin
rough and callused, weathered steel, strong, like yours
intangibly tracing the wounded landscape of my flesh

You haunt me
like some vengeful spirit, your face
hovers before me, ever-present
lurking in corners,
the flicker of ice-blue eyes emerging from
the brooding shadows of memory

I feel the ghost of your lips on my naked breast,
the urgency of unseen phantom hands in my hair,
the sweet curve of your spine invisible beneath my yearning fingers
I hear your footsteps in the hall, like some wretched, relentless poltergeist
Yet nothing, nothing waits for me in the darkness
When I reach out for you
Your ghost vanishes
Fades
Only the scent of you, lingering

I try every wives-tale trick to banish you
Garlic and roses, crosses, wolfsbane
Consult oracles and seers, cast runes, read the cards
Wear out my knees crying out to the gods
And still you come to me, night after night,
Cruel spirit,
to haunt my heart.