Haunted - Carrie Newcomer

I’ve been hearing footsteps on the stairs

Flip on the light and no one’s there

This is how we learn to navigate

All ghosts and lingering wraiths

The things you try to hide will not be hid

They said it didn’t happen, but it did

All the things that scared you as a kid

In basement, underneath the bed

Haunted

If you look long into the dark

Something will illuminate or spark

If you wade where the silence is deep

If you listen long enough it speaks

Not every haunting is redeemed

But not every ghost is what it seems

When we name the dragons, dragons fall

Armored flanks, flaming wings and all

Haunted

It’s calling through the keyholes

Underneath the doors

Slipping through the windows and floorboards

Shameful stories, unmet needs

Old ideas and even older deeds

It’s safe to finally release

The shadows of all these

It’s dangerous to live in a normal world

When you’re not an ordinary girl

For years in dusty attics you could find

Where the mad and voiceless were confined

Haunted