Ghosts

Ghosts

Two houses standing empty.
Through dirty panes light breaks,
illuminates bare floorboards.
In the rooms there are no shadows.

On dusty furniture mottled mirrors
reflect nothing.
Not peace but absence.

Once it was different.
Passion, death, tragedy, wrenching grief
tormented this place.
The world mourns those star-crossed lovers.

Do they quietly rest?
Are they at peace?
No.
Through emptiness, in endless silence, go
the ghosts of Juliet and her Romeo.

© John Snelling