The Ghost

A wind stirs the curtains
though the air has hung stiff
unmoving, all day.
"The ghost!" the children cry 
"It's the ghost!"
and they run to where
'big sis' sits in her big chair
mending their clothes.

"Sister sister! The ghost is back!"
they sing, as they dance around her.

It has been a year since she arrived
here in the middle of nowhere
with her small savings
and a big white-cloth-wrapped cross.
And the children say
the ghost came with her.

They see the ghost in little accidents that happen
(a dropped, broken dish)
little accidents that don't happen
(a snake missing its mark)
and in a breeze on an otherwise
still day.

She explained when she came
that 'big brother' 
would not be coming back.
The children took her in his place,
and she loves them, these children
with no one and no place else.

She never had little brothers and sisters. 
She plays with them, and laughs
kisses their scrapes and bruises
and when there are tears
she holds them in her lap
in her big chair
rocking patiently until they are dry.

At night she tucks them into bed, and tells them stories
like her older bothers and sisters once did for her.
The children adore her
and she knows she belongs here
and is, for the most part,
content.

Sometimes, she imagines
she can feel the ghost watching her.

She shakes her head at the children
and sends them out to play.
A breeze is just a breeze.
Even so,
she looks out the window, with the now still
curtains,
and smiles.



~Rachel Fox~ 09/01
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Not much to say except that I was really touched by Wolfwood and Milly's relationship... they really were so good for each other. I am usually not this way, but I sobbed when I saw episode 23. I guess my feelings were bound to come out in poetry sooner or later. Anyway, I just think that after everything is over, Milly might go to help out at the orphanage. It makes sense to me. Whether you love or hate this poem, I appreciate constructive criticism at aerinn@hotmail.com