I'm in Love with a Ghost

I bought a house out in the countryside.
Where I met Alice
She has unfinished business.

I cannot touch her, but I can feel her.
Like a cool weight
or a pressure on my chest.

We talk and play board games.
Chess and checkers
I move the pieces for both of us.

She can reach out and touch the world.
But it is very tiring
so she doesn't do it often.

She says she used to be a voracious reader.
Now I read to her
or play audiobooks.

One night there was a thunderstorm.
She hid under the covers
I laughed.

“What does a ghost have to be scared about”
“Shut up” she said.
We watched reruns of Tom and Jerry.

She likes to watch me cook.
She loves the smell
but eating is impossible.

I asked if she could glide through walls.
She said she can
it is uncomfortable.

“How would you like it if I pass a wall through you!”
I conceded
it sounded unpleasant.

She wears clothes from a different era.
And said she didn't need to sleep.
She takes naps.

My friends can't see her.
They tell me I'm crazy
the cat can see her though.

He hangs around the house and rubs against her ankles.
I have no idea where he came from.
She named him Eugene.

Sometimes visitors can see her
but never directly.
“I feel like someone's watching me.”

On nice evenings we sit on the porch and map constellations.
Me on the bench
her just above it.

“I can only remember the Little Dipper and Orion.
What's your favorite?”
“Vega and Altair.”

For the longest time I didn't ask her about her unfinished business.
It felt too personal.
Something for the ego alone.

“What was the afterlife like?”
“I don't remember.
I still feel alive.”

“Don't you want to pass on?”
“Of course not” she laughed.
“You'd be lonely without me.”

She was right.