Ghost Stories

Christmas, 1999 / No. 3

These partial stories, forgotten stories, gaps

in stories, detailed stories, these unfinished

stories, over-and-done-with stories, stories

hidden in stories, stories hidden by stories,

these shards of stories, hints of stories, dead-

end stories, these spiralling stories, stories with

unknown endings, tellable stories, unmentionable

stories, repressed stories, these highlights-only

stories, oft-repeated stories, filtered stories,

fleeting-snippet childhood stories, these before

stories, after stories, trailing-off stories, these

spiked stories, like-yesterday stories

haunt us

and they will,

until we have them all, all,

exactly. And then,

mortal, they will haunt us still.

Ruth Mandel lives in Seaton Village. Her work has appeared in the Antigonish Review, the Fiddlehead, and Prairie Fire. Last updated Christmas, 1999.