Whisper Her Name Three Times by Ashley Lilly

We stood in the darkness
Moonlight kissing the bathroom mirror
We had to whisper her name three times

Once to raise the hairs on our necks
Twice to make our blood run cold
Three times to… to…

To chicken out
Wilting like blackening roses
Spilling into the light to laugh like hyenas

We hid words under our tongues like chewing gum
Phrases were powerful enough to summon ghosts
Consonants and vowels could bring monsters to life

In the light, monsters didn’t feel so scary
Cereal boxes beckoned to us from wooden tables
How easy it was to go from chasing ghosts

To chasing a sugar high.
We grew up, tall and studious
And our words never summoned any ghosts

But oh how our words still mattered.
When the lights go out, I still remember her name
I say it once, I say it twice, I say it…

Ashley Lilly is a poet currently residing in New York. Her writing is inspired by nature, relationships and all things odd or spooky.