by Michael Plante

There’s a crow outside my chamber window
I swear its Katie McGee
coming back to haunt me
for leaving her the way I did.

She must have died, or made a deal?
for her soul is now within a crow
free to go wherever she wants
or haunt whomever she pleases.
She taps the glass
Let me in, I only want to talk
but if I do she’ll never leave
and I need to get my rest.

I close the drapes hoping she goes away
but I see her silhouette dancing in the moon light.
Oh how I wonder where I went wrong
or what I could have done differently?
That incessive tapping derails my rest
and I’m left with one thought only
how to kill Katie McGee?

I open a book entitled How to Kill a Crow
penned by yours truly
and randomly open to page 22.
There’s a picture of Katie McGee
I swear she’s smiling at me
mocking me like the devil at night.
Her haunting eyes saying nevermore!

I tear out the page and light it on fire
the burning image erases her from my mind.
The blackness of the devil
can be seen in her eyes
just like the ash at my feet
smoldering away like Katie McGee’s heart.

I lay in my bed
staring up at the ceiling
Is it rain I now hear upon my window
or is it Katie McGee sitting on the cusp of my sanity
ever reminding me of the wrongs of my past?

Can I pluck a feather and sway the same deal
or am I doomed for all eternity
to be here in my chamber
with her at my side?