We like to call them the “departed” — But do they ever really leave? Death’s borderland is poorly charted; None yet have managed to retrieve A mapping of that dread dominion. But in my personal opinion, There are true hauntings — I have been In places where the veil wears thin. Now, I don’t mean to go implying That I’ve conversed with empty air, Or dealt with restless tableware — Just that, at times, there’s no denying Impressions left by what’s no more: Consider it a metaphor.