Ten Kinds of Haunting
1. Hand over hand clambering the hours
2. Voices in full rustle, scraping the shadow
3. The dying hour between one day and the next peopled by the dead, a nightly microcosm of Halloween
4. Roll call. 1: ‘Present.’ 2: ‘Present.’ 3: ‘Present.’ 4: ‘Present.’ 5: 5. 5? What, no more than a few ghosts tonight?
5. ‘Who the hell are you?’
‘I’m not here to dictate terms. Whoever you think I am. No more, no less.’
‘What sort of shit is that? As if it’s up to me.’
‘Well I’m not here off my own bat.’
‘So if I want you to go away?’
‘That’s up to you. But trust me, I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t dreamt me up. I’d have picked nicer scenery, a better brain.’
‘Fuck off.’
‘Okay.’
6. ‘What the hell? I thought you’d gone.’
‘Nope. Now, where were we?’
7. In your head you’re running. If your muscles weren’t suspended you’d run into a wall, at best. At worst, out –
8. Clinking in the wall, winding down like a clock
9. Ticktickticktick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick
10.
A.J. Akoto is an English graduate and current fine art student living in London. Her poem ‘Bite’ was recently published in the Arachne Press anthology Shortest Day, Longest Night.