Kevin Ridgeway

MOURNING PEDESTRIAN

For J De Salvo

My early morning tirades
are now heard by no one but me
and all of the ghosts who stuck around
won't say a word until my phone rang
and you were on the other end
telling me to not beat myself up
for having such bad mornings
in public or with my long suffering friends
we howled at the moon's decline
and I woke up to a rising sun
that no longer casts it's light on you.
in honor of you, I'm not going to say
a word in the mornings or trust a thought
that says my problems killed you
but this isn't about me or even you
it's about a harsh sort of kindness
that whispers Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!
to let you and the other ghosts sleep.

Kevin Ridgeway is the author of Too Young to Know (Stubborn Mule Press) and nine chapbooks of poetry including Grandma Goes to Rehab (Analog Submission Press, UK). His work can recently be found in Slipstream, Chiron Review, Nerve Cowboy, Plainsongs, San Pedro River Review, The Cape Rock, Trailer Park Quarterly, Main Street Rag, Cultural Weekly and The American Journal of Poetry, among others. He lives and writes in Long Beach, CA.