That Distant Space

That Distant Space Shadows slide, silent, across the cold church floor As pallid wraiths form in the fast fading breeze Where no human wanders that way anymore. And come to rest by the broken vestry door To meet in far off realms beyond our short lease In that abandoned place we walked before. A new moon rises unseen above the trees, Grey ghosts return on this night of dark unease And far from busy life’s bright domains explore By hidden, shaded paths that no human sees Where shapeless souls their earthly forms restore And at All Hallow’s Eve meet in dark rapport In that distant space where the dead convene, To speak apart before daylight intervenes. Barry Stebbings Oct 2024