Mommy!

She cries out to the bleary-eyed 

and broken, no answer 

suffices beyond the rippling echoes, 

like forgotten shadows, an emptied

oasis. 

Chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga.

The trains hisses and streams, 

a predator’s lullaby through foaming

teeth. From within, 

she presses her hand to the glass, 

fingerprints splayed out, islands

connected by flesh. 

Creak, swish swish.

Door opens. She graces 

a dress, alive in its brilliance, dancing

without restraint, unable to amend 

the scars it grazes in the child’s retina, 

memories displayed upside down 

turn her inside out, once again. 

Tap tap. Tap tap. 

Years pass. Heart shrinks 

its boundary lines. Wide awake, 

but hardly breathing. Fast asleep, 

but thoughts still reeling. Fingers rapping 

that SOS. Wet eyes. Dry lips. 

Mommy! 

She cries out to the backdrop

of a nightmare. The ghost 

never answers, only hovers, 

the aching absence 

of a presence.

She cries.