Seeing Things

a flicker of light in a pitch dark room
a ripple in the solid concrete wall
did you see that too?

little dancing colors over a river on the drive home
when you were young, you called it
fairies

that was the only possible 
explanation--
magic.

but when your parents said that was
ridiculous
suddenly, there was no longer an
explanation.

years and years later
alone in your room at
midnight
you pull your earbuds from your startled ears with a flick of your wrist--
was that noise 
part of the song?

you never get an answer
you never hear it again
it simply goes
unexplained.

the middle of the day
talking to a friend
both of you alone in a room

you cut off your words mid
sentence
whip your head around
looking, listening
for a glimpse
an echo
of the unfamiliar voice you heard

did you hear that too?
no. 
no, of course not
weird looks
weird thoughts
follow you home.

in the passenger seat in the
middle of the night
out the cold window
a silhouette
of light
on a dark empty road

thoughts collide in your 
cluttered mind--
ghostsangelsapparitionsspiritshallucinationsmonstersportalsvisionsphantomscrazyshutup--

but this time
you remain silent
and the light remains
unexplained

now
you know better
than to say anything.