At last! The final box unpacked

And all my books are neatly stacked

Upon the shelf, and over there

By the window sits my chair

From which my weary gaze to cast?

When whiskey soused I rest, at last.

 

Cold hands shake and ice cubes chink

Foggy fingers reach and slink

Across the water, close and low

Obscuring all that lies below

And nodding, only half awake

A whisper and my Cold hands shake.

 

A sudden chill passes through me

Reaching blindly fear subdues me

Light a candle, shadows darken

Taut and tense, all senses hearken

Did I hear a wailing shrill?

Rise and fall, a sudden chill

 

The air turns cold, I sit alert

I hear the swishing of a skirt

On the dusty floor, what’s this?

The echo of a lovers kiss?

A phonograph from days of old

With scratching tune, the air turns cold

 

“What say you, wraith? From whence you speak?”

Ghostly tendrils brush my cheek

And icy breath, into my ear

Whispers “you’re not welcome here”

I start and shake. This can’t be true.

Her voice an echo, “what say you?”

 

Voice quivering, I reply

“I’ll belong here, by and by.”

I sense on frozen lips, a smile

And think of all the time I’ll wile

In haunted house, then shivering,

Whimpering, voice a quivering

 

I fall down, dead weight, sink

Into my chair, my eyelids blink

From my hand my glass falls, shatters

I drift away from all that matters

I see my heavy nodding head

A last breath out, I fall down dead.

 

At last, the final box unpacked

Her kitchen shelves are neatly stacked

Weariness etched on her face

The girl who soon will take my place

Evening is falling fast

And I will wander free at last.