I write a “Ghost Girl” poem every year, and this year, it’s a little different. See, one of Lucy’s favorite things to do right now (spooky season or not) is to throw a sheet or blanket or towel over her head – probably one that she stole from the laundry basket or out of the cabinet while I wasn’t looking – and pretend to be a ghost. She walks around going “Boo!” and “OOOoooOOO,” and says, “I’m a ghost!” So, here you go, my sweet girl. This year’s poem is all yours. I hope you like it, you know, one day when you can read.
Blink and you’ll miss me. I’m fast and I’m sneaky, and I know what I want you to see. Some call me the Goddess of Thieves. I sometimes call myself a ghost. Mostly, I’m whatever I want to be, and you better believe it – I can get away with anything!
It’s easy to learn to let things go. I just look to the trees in the fall. They drop their leaves not as tears but triumphs, a thousand little victories scattered across the seasons, a final satisfied sigh before a well-earned rest.
It scares you, doesn’t it? Here in the dark, hemmed in by the damp, whole smell of earth and air and the endless lapping of the water, the spindly fingers of the trees crawling their way up into the night, you feel it, I know, that you’re not alone. Yes, I’m here, and I’ll talk, if only because you want to, though you won’t like what I say. You’d do well to remember, my curious friend, to look beyond your lens and listen past your recordings and truly see – there are worse things haunting this place, terrors more frightening and damned creeping in the shadows of this world, than me.
Lately, it feels a little like we can’t catch a break. I don’t mean to complain. Everything is generally great – Lucy loves school, Graham is adjusting to a new job, and I’m keeping things together in the chaos. Life is good. But man, it’s been one thing after another.
Lucy got sick last week, and it was not a good time. We went from this…
…to this in, like, two seconds.
Upside, the kid’s got a talent for selfies. (Even though she refused to let me wipe her nose.) Just a day before, she’d been playing hard, “making smoke” with her (human) bestie, Livia, and being a ball of carefree energy.
Toddler life comes at you fast, y’all.
And just when Lucy got better, I got sick. Sigh. I’ll spare you the picture. It’s not quite as cute when a grownup is covered in snot. Combine that with a major storm off the coast causing our power to flicker on and off, and bringing a high tide into our yard, and it was just…quite the weekend. I’m doing better today. Still have a tickle in my throat, and some congestion, but I’ve got my energy back, and I’m getting things done.
All of that to say, eventually, I’ll be able to write something interesting again. I’ve been working on a longer-form project, revisiting some of my old short stories to maybe create a collection, and I’ve got a few poems in various states of…not quite complete. It’s never quite calm around here, but it will be some version of normal again soon, and I’m so ready for it.
I hope you had a better weekend than we did around here, and I wish you good things for the week! Let’s create and have fun and NOT GET SICK. Cool? Cool.
She loves dogs. And she’s so gentle with them, and so unafraid even of bigger dogs, and so delighted when she gets to snuggle with them. My sweet girl. Oh, my heart.
Merlin has yet to express an opinion on the matter…
One day when we’re old and gray(er), I know we’ll look back and say to each other: “Remember 13? We were younger and taller and Lucy was smaller. Here we are now, and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
And anyway, as old and as weathered and tired as I ever get, I hope I never stop looking up at the moon and the stars and the clouds. If I live to 100 or more, I hope I wear every year and line, every scar and gray hair and crow’s foot with all the wonder and whimsy and goddamn I told you so that I earned. Because I wasn’t put on this planet to be quiet as a mouse or pretty as a picture frozen in time. I am a woman and I contain a whole world in me. As much as I was made to nurture and to create and mend, I wasn’t made to bend. I was made to roar. Cover your ears if you think it’s too loud.
Another short post today, because things are just now starting to slow down after a busy week and weekend. But I hope it makes you smile. It gave us a good laugh. 🙂
Lucy found a new hiding place, y’all.
Only…she doesn’t quite fit. And it’s our pantry, so it’s not really the most convenient spot, but she sure does love it, so here we are. Toddler life, you guys.
As we prepare for Bill’s celebration of life, Graham’s family has been going through lots of keepsakes and photos. It’s a treasure trove, you guys. Diplomas, Christmas cards, newspaper clippings – it’s been incredible to look through all of it. Bill lived a big, beautiful life. And collected and kept everything, including old slides. Graham found a hard drive full of them, going all the way back to the 1940s.
Lucy looks so much like her dad, so I’m not surprised that she also looks like his dad.
Here’s baby Bill:
And here’s Lucy:
Both at Easter, 1944 and 2026.
And she didn’t just inherit his features. Look at this:
I mean, I know I never taught her how to do that, and yet…
The past and the present aren’t the same, but they sure are similar, aren’t they? Smiles all around.
I’m so grateful we have so many memories of Bill to share with Lucy when she’s older. I won’t ever let her forget her Papa Bill, and how wonderful he was, and how much he loved her.
Graham’s family has been going through their scrapbooks, and y’all, some of this stuff. They’ve found so many beautiful memories – newspaper clippings and old photos and letters and just so much – and also some really funny ones. Like this:
Graham did very well in school, but apparently never, ever, ever, ever did his homework. Ever.
I can’t recall that I ever had to write a letter like this, and that his mom had to sign it! Oh my goodness! And for Graham, it didn’t seem to make much of a difference. But it sure is hilarious to revisit now!
