MATTHEW WHITEMAN
museum I
after Nell’s ‘Some of the things I AM’
they pay me a living wage to walk among the dead. when are you getting back? someone is always leaving. wandering like stars, travelling without moving. i walk because you walked. ghosts cling to walls as if painted. someone told me you’re still here but i don’t believe them. someone told me the ghosts look more like dogs. i don’t believe in you anymore.
if you’re here, touch me when no one is looking. if you’re here, tell me there are no ghosts, only dogs. if you’re here, tell me the circle under your eyes was not a mouth but a nose the whole time and your arms and legs are just ears drooping and you are not in a better, worse, or altogether different place because you are here, and you are a dog. bark. bark. bark.
Matthew Whiteman writes poetry his dad has described as ‘interesting.’ He lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara.