A Ghostly Slice

a poem by Lorraine Schein

The old sign in the window of my neighborhood pizza place says:

Kayleen              I am a girl

Ghost Hunter

You can call now: 917-893-2212

you can find me at Pizza Palace

*I can take them

 out of your house!

*I can see them

you can’t!

Best Ghost hunter! Not fake Boo

A girl who could see ghosts

advertised her talent here.

There used to be a house here—

but now it’s a local pizza place.

Perhaps there was a ghost here.

A ghost that only Kaylee could see.

Perhaps the ghost bought pizza here—

only by the spectral slice.

Or perhaps Kaylee is now the ghost here,

haunting it, watching time go by,

as the years pile on

like extra cheese and pepperoni.

She’s waiting for someone to see her

through the window of Pizza Palace

still hoping for clients to notice her ad

in what used to be a house.

Lorraine Schein is a New York writer. Her work has appeared in VICE Terraform, Strange Horizons, and Mermaids Monthly, and in the anthology Tragedy Queens. Her new book, The Lady Anarchist Cafe, is out now from Autonomedia. This poem is based on a real sign seen in the window of her local pizza restaurant.