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Elizabeth Joy Levinson

Ghost tour

​You don’t need to let the ghosts in
because they are already with us,
weaving the space between us closed.
This holiday we gather in shame,
maybe survivor’s guilt or something else,
and we walk the cobblestone streets, night,
a cotton rat scurries from our approach,
an owl in flight won’t make a sound.
We ask the ghosts for more time.
A streetlight flickers in response
and some young wannabe tries her best.
Her beads clanging against each other,
plastic gems against her dark pinstripes,
her lacy corset. Clothing for summoning spirits.
If it works, it’s only because
there's so much loneliness in a city,
there's so much longing in a family,
and her voice is deep, it echoes.
 
I loop my cold, gloved fingers in my husband's,
but can't feel his warmth through the fabric,
only the pressure in his squeeze and then -- 
the release.

Biography

Picture
​Elizabeth Joy Levinson (she/her/hers), a high school teacher in Chicago, has an MFA in Poetry from Pacific University and an MAT in Biology from Miami University. Her work has been published in Whale Road Review, FEED, SWWIM, Anti-heroin Chic, and others. She is the author of two chapbooks: As Wild Animals (Dancing Girl Press) and Running Aground (Finishing Line Press). Her first full length collection, Uncomfortable Ecologies, will be published in the fall of 2023 (Unsolicited Press). Find her on Instagram: @ejoylevinson, Twitter: @ejoylev, and online ejoylevinson.wordpress.com
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ISSN 2639-426X
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  • Home
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    • Issue 50
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    • Issue 37
    • Issue 36
    • Issue 35
    • Issue 34
    • Issue 33
    • Issue 32
    • Issue 31
    • Issue 30
    • Issue 29
    • Issue 28
    • Issue 27
    • Issue 26
    • Issue 25
    • Issue 24
    • Issue 23
    • Issue 22
    • Issue 21
    • Issue 20
    • Issue 19
    • Issue 18
    • Serenity
    • Issue 17
    • The Audio Room
    • Issue 16
    • Issue 15
    • Issue 14
    • Play It Again
    • Issue 13
    • Issue 12
    • Issue 11
    • Issue 10
    • Issue 9
    • Issue 8
    • Issue 7
    • Issue 6
    • Hand to Mouth
    • Issue 5
    • Issue 4
    • Issue 3
    • Issue 2
    • Issue 1
  • Submissions