Katrina K Guarascio

How to be in love with a ghost

Sleep in his old t-shirt

savoring the scent trapped inside thread and collar.

Leave the smell of hair in pillow.

Mimic the sound of shutting doors

slapping goodbye.

Play a melody of afternoon thunderstorms

and chase the scent of rain

through the house.

Flick ash to pavement,

bare feet to sidewalk,

leave a trail from the rubble

that built your favorite mythology.

Refuse to release him

from mind and motion,

bite lower lip to keep words

from falling out.

Find a boy at the bar with the same shade of eyes

and a smile kind enough to resurrect the past.

Sing all the words to Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” in his ear

in a slow dance to last call.

Stare into eyes a little too long,

listen to stories with too much care thirsty for truths.

Tell him he reminds you of someone you used to know.

Then no longer hide bruises.

Show him the peaceful side of your nature,

the sleepless side of your soul.

Walk across the broken glass of beer bottles

to nudge him awake,

replace missing pages about last night

over a breakfast where you

laugh to loud to be in public,

still drunk from one another.

When he leaves

thank him for wearing the skin of memory

and gifting the kindness of patience.

Do not kiss him goodbye.

Reclaim evening habits,

curled in tattered wool sweater,

beer and cigarette,

tangled in all the parts of what once was.

Watch in solitude as the full moon creeps across the sky

and breathe in all that has come to pass.

Katrina Guarascio

Hi Larry,

I wish I was up to more poetry and writing wise. Right now, I am keeping myself busy updating my blog: katrinakguarascio.com and working on my novel. I've had few features this year but am hopeful to get out to more poetry readings in the future. I am the current editor of The Sunday Poem on the Duke City Fix and would love some submissions (hint! hint!) Send submissions to swimwithelephants@gmail.com

Kat

The Sunday Poem is an ongoing feature of Duke City Fix (I did a round of editing for it myself) and Katrina is the current editor. Here's a list of poems.