Ghost (poem)

If you go out at night
you will see a ghost one day

The warning and wisdom of a mother
a prophecy unheeded

I lay under the covered of a fluffy bed
fully dressed awaiting for the sleepy bugs
to close my parents' tiring eyes

It's almost midnight
I tiptoe to the rhythm
of my parents' breathing like a burglar
and enter the bathroom

As I open the window
I flush the toilet to disguise the sound and crawl out
standing on the ledge of the second floor apartment building
I wonder how I will get down to the ground

Fear is no in the vocabulary
of an invincible 15-year-old

I slide down the black drainage pipe
only to face a 10-foot fence blocking my way

The alluring darkness hypnotizes me
turning back is not an option
I climb over the fence and disappear
in darkness

As I lay under the covers of a stiff double bunk bed
on this modern-day slave plantation called the Prison Industrial Complex
the ghost sleeps with me