Jeffrey Hermann

Mercury Eats Gold

I don’t want to hear from ghosts
if all they have to tell me
is I told you so.
Come up with some other message
like, “You become the love
you leave behind
and there’s nothing else.” 
Something with a little pep in its step. 
A book on life after death
told me apparitions need a dwelling,
so go outside
if you don’t want to be haunted
or pursued by lost loves,
dead relatives, curses, psychic panic,
childhood trauma, or skeletons.
I don’t know if this is good news
or bad, but making your bed
in the morning earns you nothing.
One of the lies your mother told.
When it’s time for me
to call it a day, the shape
beneath the rumpled sheet
resembles the woman I love
until I pull it away
and the news
is even better than that.