The Great Aunt

My second cousin once removed once asked my mother
Where do ghosts come from

They come from shame and family secrets
They come from an acre where the untold fertilizes a storied garden

My young cuz had a follow-up question
Does this house have a ghost

None that you can ever see
None that will ever harm you
But long ago your Great Aunt was believed to be touched
and so was taken to a special hospital that was like a prison
The high-handed doctors were electrified by untruths
And all the nurses were stoked by bitterness save one saved by laughter
Yet the magnet between Auntie and her Nurse was blocked by innuendo and reproach
Some say that their shadows pogo together in the abandoned asylum
But on holidays Auntie comes here to be reunited with her family
The more we remember the more she forgives

And what does the ghost of Auntie say
And how will I know she is there

Though Auntie’s specter is speechless
Whenever your laugh sounds like another’s
Whenever you sing a silly song over and over
Whenever you spin around and around to embrace your own dizziness
Know that she is pleased to be beside you
For the feeling of your own strangeness has become a music
And she is whirling to its rhythm