Having nothing more thrilling to do
me and Terry Seville
(he of the curly blond hair,
huge Adam's Apple and acne)
went ghost hunting.

Bungee jumping
had not then been invented
and the term `extreme sports'
meant playing soccer in the snow.

We adenoidal pals
would shout at the devil
in old vacant homes
with only a flashlight and a whistle
between us and chilling fear.

In the movies, people in haunted houses
always separate and are picked off
by evil hands one at a time

but me and Terry stayed together
until our joint overheated imaginations
rose the dead
from toilet bowls, old flower pots
and even broken cupboards.

We found ghouls everywhere
and they followed us home
chattering,
excited and playful now
now that they had found
two true believers.








(C) Eric Ashford June 08