Kindred Spirits

Kindred Spirits by Valerie Parente

I’ve said this so many times
how I see figures in the middle of the night
flashing silhouettes with no face
but I see them and I’m never afraid.

I call the flickering ghosts my kindred spirits
something that should be scary but I don’t fear it
we are not unlike each other all that much
we mean no harm but scare the ones who love us.

I see myself in them, as strange as it seems
wanting to be seen, wanting to be believed
for the ways I misread my anxiety signals
a little broken brain with a flicker of wisdom.

Maybe I relate because I’m also like a ghost
bound to this home, and I don’t know how to let go
and every time I try to make myself get up and move
I come back to the same place, this same bedroom.

I believe in the kindred spirits I see
as do they believe in me
maybe they’re trying to say
believe in yourself all the same.

When I finally leave this room
I hope they come with me too
because they remind me there is more
than just material in this world.