Haunted Poem by Peter Madden

I'm surrounded by ghosts...
that no one else but i can see,
restless spirits haunting my twilight world,
the tormenting echos of my past...
like shadows at my heel...

ghosts of past loves and the lost,
reminding me of how i let them go,
phantoms of people i abandoned in need,
my own selfish thoughts placed first,
sacrificing their love of me,
to the darkness...

revenants of those i've hurt,
still clinging to their tormentor,
shades of souls in pain and grief,
victims of my callous nature,
condemened to follow me evermore,
by my own shallow heart...

specters of my family,
ignored and forgotten relatives,
people who loved and cared for me,
not thought of since their passing,
for to busy was i with trivial things,
to remember those who deserved to be remembered...

im haunted by these wraiths of my past,
their faces are ever before me,
remnants of my guilt and remorse,
symptoms of the madness dwelling within,
they are seen in every mirror and reflection,
and hidden in the faces of the people i meet...

the ghosts are my judgement and justice,
harrowing me to a much deserved grave,
but in the end even they will depart from me,
leaving me as i left them,
as i deserve to be,
haunted by the madness of regret,
alone and forgotten,
a ghost myself...