dark web darling

my uncle used to tell me stories 
about the dark web as if it were
an underworld kingdom. 
back then i used him as a father
for reasons we don't need 
to stir fry. we were always driving somewhere.
an altar or a department store. 
he has the biggest hands in my family.
they gripped the steering wheel 
like a dinner plate. we drove until
the street lights became stars.
i am not sure where he heard 
about the dark web. me and him enjoyed
the shadowier things in the world.
he talked about it like a ghost story. 
pages for assassins & pages for cannibals
& pages for secret holy objects. 
my uncle is a story-teller. i am not sure
where his tales departed from reality
but they always entered a realm of
the mythical. a talisman. a cursed object. 
a man who stands on the ceiling
of your house at night. we confronted
each other's hauntings. i was only ten or so. 
him, in his forties & living in the other half
of a house we shared. sometimes i wonder though
if maybe he got onto the dark web somehow. 
where would he go? what would he bring back
for us? we have grown apart. this year
i tried calling him & texting him but he lets
his phone die. tells his stories to himself now. 
the web, expecting into a net. us, 
writhing fish. you can see his computer glow
from the driveway all times of the night.