You Haunt Me

i saw you in my dream last night

lingering in the folds of my conscious,

like smoke trapped in a room

refusing to dissipate.

i thought i exorcised you

salt, crucifix and holy water.

burned your name into ash,

spoke your name backwards in candlelight.

but there you are,

there you stand.

unburned, untouched,

wearing the face i used to love.

on the altar in my mind,

i kneel to you, to beg:

spare me the pain,

the pain of nostalgia,

a wound that doesn’t bleed,

only festers quietly.

your eyes,

voids i once called home,

follow me in mirrors,

mock me in shadows,

etch your sorrow on the walls.

i carried your ghost

in the cradle of my ribs.

your curl beside my heartbeat 

and make a home of my ruin.

i buried you once,

i buried you deep.

but some things don’t stay dead,

specially the ones we love.