Two Poems by Jeff Bagato

The Inner Life of a Phantom

Ghosts don’t like to be left alone;
dreams of past lives take over then,
and there’s nothing they can touch
to repair material time;
they prefer to draw the living away,
haunting meals, haunting
bedroom lives, haunting children
most of all, or breaking
those things that memories
have rendered foul—
plates and cups that only offer 
dry food, dust making poor nourishment
for bodies and spirits alike,
and now those sentimental 
things offend as gateways
to lives gone cold and dark
and untethered from the happy plane






Night Fires

Look through the fires
and talk stories into the flames,
heating breath until the image glows
behind weatherbeaten eyes;

what we say here 
can’t be marked or persecuted,
and witchcraft can flourish
in the open air; 

hobo fairy rings
left right out in the open
where moon sees shining,
collapsible breath








A multi-media artist living near Washington, DC, Jeff Bagato produces poetry and prose as well as electronic music and glitch video. Some of his poetry has appeared in Empty Mirror, Futures Trading, Rusty Truck, Otoliths, Black Poppy Review, H&, and Zoomoozophone Review. His published books include Savage Magic (poetry), Spells of Coming Day (poetry), The Toothpick Fairy (fiction), and Dishwasher on Venus (fiction). A blog about his writing and publishing efforts can be found at http://jeffbagato.wordpress.com.