poem for the smallest ghost
BY RACHEL MCKIBBENS

The men made promises but failed.
Somewhere in Ohio a small woman
knelt down to scalp the soil of its weeds.
Dirt and dirt and dirt. Ingrid, the worst part
is true: only the lovestruck boy kept his word.
He left you sleeping, your coffined hands
a soft relief. A job well-done. Forgive me,
I wanted to follow that boy back to the funeral parlor,
to kiss the edge of each careful finger. Thank him
for that quiet thread: the unlit bridge from lip to lip.

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Rachel McKibbens is the author of Pink Elephant (Cypher Books, 2009) and is co-curator of the critically acclaimed poetry series Poetry & Pie Night. Her poems, essays and creative non-fiction have appeared in numerous publications, including The Nervous Breakdown, Stone Canoe, Wicked Alice, La Petite Zine, and Radius. She is Ada Limón's biggest fan.