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I walked with Ghosts
The ‘Downtown Mall’ as we called it then,
Was just the place we could
exercise in.
When the weather was bad we’d walk its halls
Shedding
calories, and trying to stay thin.
Mary and I walked with my brother
Nick
And sometimes Tina saying,” May I join you?”
Doubtful if it worked,
‘cause when we were done,
Nick would say, “I’m hungry”, while I added “Me
too!”
While we walked, we’d discuss camping or fishing,
Deciding on
the location we would next choose
To strike out to, with all our camping
supplies
But make sure we brought plenty of food!
Well, this
morning I decided to walk again,
Through all four sides of that familiar
old mall…
I talked with brother Nick and heard Tina too,
Saying ‘HI’ to
old friends; I saw them all!
It was all so real, I swear it was,
Wondering how long our walk would last.
But Nick’s been gone now, for
nearly nine years
Was he here, or was I walking in the past?
I
could see all the vendors as we walked on by,
The ice cream place, the
jewelry store and more…
I swear I could smell ‘Ol Gus’ Gyros he sold
While we admired clothes walking past those new stores!
Then from
behind I heard someone walking…
Loud clomping of his very heavy shoes,
As this guy walked by, fading away all I’d seen
Reality returned, and I
suddenly felt blue.
The halls were empty; I was back in ‘today’,
Brother Nick was no longer there.
I must admit though, it was nice while it
lasted,
Those visions sadly evaporated into thin air.
Now the old
mall has been remodeled and revived,
But it’s just not the same as before,
There are different type businesses, offices and such
And suddenly I was
walking alone on its shiny new floor
No brother Nick, no chattering
Tina,
Mary was not even there…
She was down the hall having dental work
done
So I went there and chose a chair.
When she emerged, all puffy
and sore,
She asked, “Did you have a nice walk?”
I simply said, “I’ve
enjoyed a stroll around the mall...
With Brother Nick and we enjoyed a long
talk.”
jac 2005
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