Ghost Story

It was a dark and stormy night
and I swore I saw a ghost!
But it didn’t jangle chains
or speak in eerie moans.
It wasn’t pearly white
or naked, empty bones,
and in darkness like a stain
it didn’t have a phantom glow.

There was a total lack of light!

The thing that let me know
that I was haunted in my brain
was that when my eyes were closed
a ghost kept floating into sight.
It was blurry, I suppose,
or it didn’t have a face,
yet its presence felt so close
in the total lack of light.

I completely froze!

I could feel my heartbeat race
and every one of my hairs rose
in an utter state of fright
that made me shiver in my clothes.
I was sure I’d go insane,
a crushing fear replacing hope.
I couldn’t breathe! My throat was tight
because I’d felt its hot breath flow!

I wished that it would go away!

And then it licked my nose,
and I knew that on this night
as the howling wind did blow
through hanging sheets of rain
outside in dark that billowed
like a million crows in flight,
and as I hugged my pillow
from a fear that felt like pain…

my dog had been the ghost!
And now I knew I’d be all right.