Haunted

I am surrounded by ghosts

I feel them on my skin

I see them in the mirror

I taste them in the air around me

Their touches come out of nowhere

One minute there is nothing

Then I feel them

A brush, trailing down my arm

A shove against my back

A hand around my wrist

I feel them

These are the ghosts of my past

Memories that shouldn’t be able to harm me anymore

Except they are not

These are not memories

You have to remember for it to be a memory

Memories have no power over me

Not anymore

But ghosts?

They terrify me still

They stalk my dreams

Never seen

Always there

I am haunted by a past I hold no knowledge off

If knowledge is power how weak must I be

Weak enough that a ghost can send me scurrying

I hide myself from everything

Alone I am safe

Alone I can tell the difference between true and false

Between past and present

When I’m with people

The lines blur

Everything’s a jumble

Ghosts collide with each other

Overlapping

Intermingling with the present

A tangled web I must try and free myself from

Alone there are fewer strands

I still get tangled but I can see the end

I know how to get out

So I stay isolated

I am an island

Inhabited only by ghosts