ghosts run in my family

i have several siblings who are ghosts
& they play in backyard with the bats & the owls.
soon the ocean will be made 
of plastic water bottles
& i am part of the problem because yesterday
i bought a case of water bottles. 
don't worry though
in the plastic-water-bottle-ocean 
the bottles will be at least still be full of water
& you will be able to peer inside & see
tiny ghost fish dancing with each other.
if you find the right bottle you might even find
a little speckled reef standing 
like rows of crooked red teeth. i am afraid
of the basement because that is where
my father drinks beer with demons. 
they have black eyes & they build 
model space ships from bottle caps.
a light is always on in the basement 
& even behind my eyelids i can feel it.
in the yard, one of the trees grows
frozen meatballs & chicken fingers.
i ask a ghost to harvest them for us
& he carries the ripe meat in his bare hands.
luckily i don't any of that stuff. 
god is pickling & some of the brine
falls down as rain. jars click together
to ring out a new thunder. my not-ghost brothers
have such easy lives with all their blood
& all their bones. the ghosts would kill
for a chance to watch television 
& play video games. this is why i work 
to appease them. some of the ghosts 
are just empty tin cans & other are 
full bodied apparitions in white robes.
when a ghost screams something has to 
tear in half. this is how i lost 
my copy of the bible. it just severed
& i was like 'thank god that's over.'
i tell my ghost brothers 
to never fall in love with boys 
who want to make a wife of you.
i was a wife briefly at the age of eighteen.
a wedding dress sprouted from the warm
april dirt & i wore it barefoot in the creek
until it finally deteriorated & i was naked 
& cold & i walked home. 
replace all the plastic bottles in the world
with light bulbs. if i had any concern for my health
i would drink more sun beams. i would 
practice glowing. i would prepare more thoroughly 
for ghosthood. my backyard becomes
a coral reef complete with eels 
& red finger-like creatures. i find a nook
to hide away in. no ghosts come. i imagine 
my body inside a water bottle. safe & contained.
around me, the moon blinks like a broken sign.