The Woodland Ghost
I've seen the woodland ghost
Wan and pale in the moonlight
Dancing a waltz all by their lonesome
In front of an assart hedge
Water runs through the woods
That line across the road from the house
The small, helpless creature dropped from the bridge
Grew and gave birth to babies
The ghosts dance in the woods
And on the North Lawn
The one with the gigantic bush
That became the playground fortress and hideaway
Of every child who visited
Unable to walk one year
I sat in a wheelbarrow in the sun
While they planted vegetables
Big cars in the driveway
Curvy roofs and big fins on the tails
Air conditioned by the wind
If you could crank the handles
The tree house so high I was scared
Too scared to climb up that high
Too scared to climb among the old cars
Junked and rusting where I stacked wood
Near where we saw the mother raccoon
With her babies
The big rooms where everybody slept
In the big house out in the country
Across a different road from a vineyard
And a private airport
With ghosts asleep in the loungers
Next to the old Franklin stove
Or playing table tennis in the cellar
After the 4-H meeting
Or out on the lawn
Riding tricycles down the mountain
That sat right at the corner
Of lawn and driveway
The woodland ghost dances
On the edge of the wonderful road
Across from the wonderful house
The big house
It needs to be a big house
Because of all the ghosts
copyright © 2012 christopher w neal all rights reserved
