Ghosts

Jesus said, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' " John 20:17

The hallways are populated – no empty wastes here

No whispery warriors leaning on spears

No anguished wives half-turning in shrouding veils

They wander in numbers – a sideways bent to their gait

Eyes seeking out contact

Of hand, of word, of eye

Touch, touch is what we want

A warm hand, a truer word

A gaze held steady

Fingers like long hooks

Reach out to touch

Arms are tapped, brushed

Sleeves held fast

Attention called and called

Instead the shifty

Slide of care

The fussy brush of finicky

The dropped gaze of guilt

These are the purgatories of

The care house

And the penance is weighty

Nella Cotrupi

Feb. 2012