Picket Fence

Are you one of those
Who tend to assume
The ghosts you knew once,
Unseen for decades,
Are probably dead?

They probably aren’t,
Not most of them. Most
Of them are doubly
Extant—memories
Living in your head,

Lives still going on
Somewhere far away.
Most of them you won’t
Meet again, not in
Your life, ghost to them.

A few you locate
Who you knew as kids—
Scott in Columbus,
Colleen in Sussex.
Maybe an obit.

But you don’t contact
Any of them, not
By text or seance.
You’ll be going soon.
Let them contact you.