Family Ghosts

“Think, Odysseus . . . they’re gods, all they have is the time to watch and wait for us to fail…”

— (from my as yet unproduced adaptation of The Odyssey

It’s always dangerous to claim victory over the gods.

I wrote a poem on the flight here. Worked just as well as anything I’ve ever done — at least, that was how it felt at the time. And it worked pretty well when I went back to clean it up earlier today.

But I never should have said anything . . . because now I’ve got three stillborn attempts to make anything worth reading from one of my other nine words.

Sat up tonight with my mother and father and my nephew, talking about ghosts. Made me remember that at some point I really ought to get the Haunted Year photos and journal up and running again. The ghosts are long gone (and have been since Valentine’s day earlier this year) but it’s still an interesting thing to look through from time to time.

Every family has its ghosts. In a few days there’ll be forty or so aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, brothers, grandparents, and great grandparents all coming together. And we’ll all be bringing along our ghosts, mistakes, and secrets . . . nothing we want to share but nothing we can hide or leave behind.

Speaking of which, here’s another reason to hate cell phones: If you’re out with friends, discussing all your secrets . . . make sure your cell phone is off. Otherwise, it might come on at inopportune moments as it gets accidentally bumped during a taxi ride. And you never know who might pick up the phone on the other side and listen in without you realizing it.

My nephew is done watching Sport Center and has found “Godzilla vs. Mothra” so it appears that the gods are once again smiling…