I saw a ghost today. 
I peered inside 
her vacant eyes 
and brushed the years away.

I saw her youth,
and she saw mine.
We knew each other's past.
She spoke my truth
in wistful lines
within her dusty glass.

Time had not stayed its cruel hand
while doling out its normal fruits
but twice had dipped into its sand
to lay its poison at her roots.

Now thirty years cling 'round her, thick with rot.
Beyond the grave she pleads with me,
"Restore my former dignity!"
I stretch my hand to save her but cannot.

I helped my father raise her. She raised me.
I lived in her. She only lives in me.