Do You Believe in Ghosts?

by Stephanie Athena Valente

Steinar Engeland

or, do we just like telling stories? we engage in trust falls with living room confessions. i love men and i love women and i never told a soul. when i ask what you think of the dead: what i want to know is, do they know they’re dead? do they sit up at night googling, hoping for a universal connector: does my boyfriend love me? why did my girlfriend ghost me? how can i stop a panic attack in one minute or less? do ouija boards work? how effective is therapy? is it easy to cook vegan at home, on a budget? how much stress is inherited? spirits follow me from past ancestors. so, do you believe in ghosts? i have the time but something tells me, you won’t share.

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Stephanie Athena Valente lives in Brooklyn, NY. Her published works include Hotel Ghost, waiting for the end of the world, and Little Fang (Bottlecap Press, 2015–2019). She has work included in Reality Hands, TL;DR, and Cosmonauts Avenue. She is the associate editor at Yes, Poetry. Sometimes, she feels human.