After listening and reading so many ghost stories
of late

I’ve become 100% convinced ghosts are real
all these people alleging they’ve seen ghosts

can’t all be

liars
deluded
mentally ill
mistaken
pranksters

the numbers are too great
many of the reports seem entirely creditable
for me to believe none of them are bona fide

but what I’m grateful for
is I’ve never seen a ghost

except
maybe

in a dream.

Bob Boyd

She walks the hotel halls from room 17 to room 21
she unpacks and packs guest’s suitcases
she doesn’t like guests being in those rooms
the reason she messes with their suitcases
she can walk through doors, no problem
she’s the Grey Lady ghost of the Crown Inn
in Amersham, England, a town densely
populated with varieties of ghosts
at least seven haunt the Crown Inn
there’s a green lady ghost in Amersham too
if you ever want to get scared many times over
take a trip to Amersham and book a hotel room
the ghosts there will gladly accommodate you.

Bob Boyd

In a dream last night
I’m lying in bed
holding a woman
but when I held her
her body felt more
wonderful to hold
than any other
woman’s body
I was ever blessed
to have held

we cuddled
we kissed
I fell hopelessly
in love

I had a vague
feeling she might
have been an ex wife
long deceased

that I left because
she was always
out
I was always
alone
her the extrovert
me the introvert

and I’m not one
to go back with
someone that a
romance didn’t
work out with

I awoke in the
sobering morning
light, sort of
relieved that I
hadn’t falling
in love with her
but wondering
if I had been with
her ghost or spirit

whatever the case
at least it was a
pleasant experience
as opposed to an
avenging ex’s spirit
harassing me.

Bob Boyd

In Springfield Vermont, stands the Hartness House Inn
an elegant, looming gables mansion built in 1904
once the home of James Hartness, an inventor extraordinaire
a governor of Vermont, an aviator, an industrialist and more
in want of a quieter environment, he a built a network of tunnels
under his mansion, a subterranean sanctuary with
a library, a workshop, a study and an apartment

twenty years after Hartness died in 1934, the mansion was
converted into an inn, and the ghost of Hartness is believed
to be haunting it: strange sensations, lights flickering, rocking chairs rocking by themselves, objects fly off shelves, sounds of someone murmuring

but smart as Hartness was, if he is haunting the mansion,
why couldn’t he find his way to the Light?
or is he locked into doing what he still thinks is material world work in his subterranean, tunneled haunts?

Bob Boyd

Her face, angelic
a blessing to see
her voice melodious
captivates your heart
a single look from her
imbues you with joy
her touch ecstatic
delightfully addictive
her lovely presence
brings such happiness
need her precious love
forever, parting never
can’t imagine being
without her ever
want her love forever
the blissful effects
of the right woman.

Bob Boyd

Since we never met in this life

our love unrequited
our hearts ununited
our souls separated

will we meet in the afterlife?

our love consummated
our hearts united
our souls entwined

soulmates forever.

Bob Boyd

I like seeing dogs looking out of open car windows
with their heads outside the windows
even though it’s not safe for the dog
were an accident to happen

but imagine the freeing feeling for a dog
riding in a rolling car without need of his volition
head outside the window
breeze blowing in his face
so incredibly refreshing
so amazingly exciting

the sights, the thrill, the fun, the joy
of the dog’s rolling car ride.

Bob Boyd

I spy a ladybug
on top of my bathroom mirror.

every so often, a ladybug
invades my fortified apartment
I’m glad their not spies
far as I know

she’s eyeing me now
and I know what she’s thinking

“Um … is this some Caucasian, mountain god
tall and mountainous as he is?”

she sees me nick my cheek with my razor
and the tiny spot of blood that debuts

she thinks to herself
“though this strange species
towers over me mightily
it’s a lesser god than mine
because it bleeds”

after her disparaging assessment
she somehow, magically, walks down
the mirror like Jesus walking on water
and doesn’t fall off, as I or any living
human would, except maybe Jesus

I see she’s preening herself in the mirror
and liking her reflection a little too much
I never knew ladybugs were vain

I’d like to kick her out of my apartment
but it’s too cold outside
and despite the fact she’s an intruder
I don’t want her to freeze her ass off
that is if ladybugs have asses

so I just bid her farewell as I walk to my
computer and write this kinda ode to her
while she’s probably still obsessing over
her looks in my bathroom mirror

someday I must school her on the fact
looks fade and her personality is more
important than her fleeting looks.

maybe tomorrow, if she sticks around.

Bob Boyd

Thinking today about how
they all fade away

people you knew
people you barely knew
people you thought you knew
people you never knew

and how one day
I will fade away too

from everything
I ever knew
from everything
I ever was

when I fade away
from this world –

forever.

Bob Boyd

When I lived in the Philippines, I heard of
headless priest ghosts

a frightening thought

I read during world war II the Japanese
cut off the heads of priests that became ghosts

if true, such an unconscionable thing to do

some people say it’s just an urban legend
others believe the headless priest ghosts are real

after watching many believable videos about ghosts
on Art Bell’s Ghost to Ghost series

I cannot not help but wonder if those stories
about headless priest ghosts in the Philippines are true.

Bob Boyd

Last night I was remembering the Muslim woman
at the cancer center

who was always there the same time as I was
years ago, free of cancer now

though I never had a conversation with her
I worried about her

she was emaciated and in a wheelchair
never knew cancer put people in wheelchairs

but, alas, many are the people in wheelchairs
from cancer

I was worried about this woman because
I thought she looked close to dying

she appeared to be in her early or late forties
too young, too soon, to leave this world

one day she was no longer at the cancer center
at the same time I was

I feared my observation about her dying had been right
but to this day, I hope I had been wrong

I hope her doctor just changed her appointment time
and that she lives cancer free today.

Bob Boyd

I wonder who in Japan
dreamed up Godzilla
it must have been
one hell of a ride
to dream up
a giant monster
and see it
on the silver screen
playing in
many countries
all over the world
causing havoc
wrecking cities
and more
when I saw it
as a kid, I didn’t think
it was any good
but what did I know?
I was just a kid
kudos to the creator
of the movie Godzilla
and its enduring success.

Bob Boyd

I see a young woman with black and green hair
reviewing horror movies on YouTube
that she sees on Tubi

It doesn’t surprise me that a woman with
black and green hair is reviewing horror movies
it seems apropos

she has an English accent that gives her
some linguistic appeal and adds to her
well thought out reviews

she calls herself the gremlin girl, which in a way
doesn’t surprise me, but the name is like a misnomer
she’s too pretty to be a gremlin

I give her video a like and put it in my favorites,
so I can take a look at her recommendations
later on Tubi. Thank you gremlin girl.

Bob Boyd

I’ve noticed all over the world women
paint their faces with makeup
presumably to increase their allure
unlike the female beasts in the forests
who, presumably, have more allure
without the need to paint their faces
do their nails, or gussy up their hair.

Bob Boyd

Art Bell believed there were
ghosts of the living

an appearance in spirit form
of somebody you know is alive

a number of people reported
such sightings on Art Bell’s
Ghost to Ghost shows

perhaps our spirits are
embodied and sometimes
slip out while we’ve alive

instead of the intended
bodily separation when
we are dead.

Bob Boyd