James Babbs- Three Poems

Trick of the Light

I kept looking through the window

thinking I saw ghosts

but I realized

it was only a trick of the light

nothing was out there

and I heard the wind

pushing against the house

I got up from the couch

and walked into the hall

checking the thermostat

because I felt so cold

then I went to each room

and looked around

making sure

everything was okay

all the rooms looked the same

and I stopped at the bathroom

pulling back the shower curtain

not really certain

about what it was

I thought I might find

and I laughed

I’d been in love before

but that didn’t mean

I knew much about it

I went to the kitchen

and grabbed another beer

I closed the curtains

on the living room window

before returning to my seat

and I waited

slowly sipping my beer

I sat there in the silence

I didn’t turn on the TV

Laundry

I’m doing my laundry

on a Saturday night

because

I don’t have

anything better to do

writing this poem

with the sound of the washer

coming from the other room

and no one calls me any more

to ask me what’s going on

I guess

it’s something that happens

when you reach a certain age

you no longer feel like going out

you just want to stay at home

and it’s okay

because

I have everything I need

I just went to the grocery store

a couple of days ago

I’ve got plenty of wine

and beer

and tomorrow’s Sunday

so I don’t have to go to work

There’s This Guy Who Shows Up

every now and then

I see him emerging

from out of the shadows

before he comes forward

and crawls inside my head

he doesn’t have a name

I’m not sure who he is

or what it is he wants

but he has all these reasons

for doing the things he does

of course

they’re different from the ones

I try to hold on to

sometimes

he’s much stronger than me

and he reaches out

grabbing me

with invisible arms

until he drags me down

he tells me all kinds of things

and I believe him

sometimes

he hangs around

for days on end

and it frightens me

because

he makes me feel like

I don’t know who I am

and the air grows heavy

until it’s hard for me to breathe

I keep thinking it’s me

doing something wrong

when he leaves

the light seems to change