Killing Your Ghost by Linda M. Crate

the remnants

of your ghost

hang upon my flesh

even though i told you

i wouldn't be your haunted house,

and so now the monster in me

has risen;

she is an ancient beast

i have all the strengths and none of the weaknesses

of my monstrous father—

fight the damphyr,

and you will find your folly;

because you do not possess the strength to defeat me

no one ever does

because immortality can never be slain—

you, however, will fall beneath my black boots,

and i will remind you that you aren't driven pure white as

the snow as you once so kindly reminded me.

Linda M. Crate's poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines both online and in print. She has six published chapbooks, a microchap, and a novel titled Phoenix Tears (Czykmate Productions, June 2018).