The Sorry-Eyed Descendant by Kalvin M. Madsen

I got to know my ghosts,

they were apologetic and proud.

I felt like Alexander,

the way they laughed and got loud.

These spirits crowded together, like deer in the snow;

I wonder what’s around and how they came so close.

A bunch of sight-seers, fans who came to see

a sorry-eyed descendant, strong and alive with glee.

Strong old ghosts, a peanut-munching crowd,

cheering and sneering while I’m sighing aloud.

Kalvin’s on the brink, they all see the path.

It’s easier said than done by a ghost of Christmas past.

They want more songs, They want a book. 

They want me proud as them, until then I’m on the hook.

So stay around you ghostly folk

I’ll make a show just liked you hoped

Can you read up there

Or do you just sulk? 

Watch me like a firework

Arcing through the sky

I’ll make it bright and wild

Before I say goodbye.

Kalvin M. Madsen is a fiction writer and poet living in Pasadena CA, and is the EIC of Low Hanging Fruit. His short story collection Hello, Receiver was released in 2019, and his upcoming poetry collection “Reasoning Machine” is set to release later this year.