BY REQUEST

When my grandmother died her ghost
Lingered for a few weeks to finish reading
Some of the decades-old newspapers
She had stored in the basement.
It was 1977, but she wanted to finish
Some serialized novels and be sure
That the Siege of Stalingrad was over
And the Allies had still won World War II
Leaving her free to revisit her real home
In the debatable lands of middle Europe.

REASONS

I believe I have come downstairs

To bring order out of chaos

And to copy things my father wrote

The cat believes that God

Has decided to provide him a lap.

Who would have thought

That God listens to my cat?