on believing
the dead can persist
in speaking to us, say,
in the bedroom,
in the shower;
why do you doubt
all of their precursors—
the mock-ups
and the models—
prototypes
which never got the chance
to exist?
Why should
any such distinction
matter?
After all,
the money in your purse
has been chattering
for centuries—
calling to you
from a doors-
closing elevator,
stage-whispering
to your ancestors
in an echo-y church—
but never once
has the chance
that these are the
mere apparitions
of nothing
talking to no one
been discussed.
