inventory: the ghosts in the bedroom

inventory: the ghosts in the bedroom
Joyce Chong

the act of exorcism is self­-reflective.
your ghosts swelter in the empty air,
a caustic whispered graze, a wicked
sting, the droning of the haunted in
the background, insistent;

cicadas swarm & you are
	     dripping
		          with
			        illusions,
the phantoms caught
in the backboard,
its wood a rotted skeleton;

when the lights are off,
they grow restless;

you wake in the morning
with their voices in your lungs.

Joyce Chong lives in Ontario, Canada where she writes fiction, poetry, and other types of lies while surrounded by farm land and wine country. Her work has appeared in Cool Skull Press’ Goddessmode anthology, (parenthetical), and untethered magazine, with work forthcoming in Noble Gas Qtrly. You can find her online at joycechong.ca, or you can follow her on twitter at @_joycechong.
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