My Ghost

we came in this world together
legs wrapped around each other
my cheek against my sister's
we were born like tangled vine

we lived along the river
where the black clouds never lingered
the sunlight spread like honey
in my sister's tiny hands

but while picking sour apples
in the wild waving grasses
sister stumbled in the briar
and was bitten by a snake

every creature casts a shadowunder the sun's golden finger
but when the sun sinks past the waving grass
some shadows are dragged along

alone, I took to drinkingbottles of cheap whiskey
and staggering through the back woods
killing snakes with a sharpened stick

but still I heard her laughing
in those wild waving grasses
still her tiny hands went splashingat the river's sparkling shore

so I took my rusty gas can
and an old iron shovel
I set the woods to burning
and choked the river up with stones

every creature casts a shadowunder the sun's golden finger
but when the sun sinks past the waving grass
some shadows are dragged along