By: Richard LeDue

“The Meaning of Life Haunts Empty Rooms”

I can understand why people listen
to Mozart, and although he died long ago,
he left something much more alive
than a ghost, and I also know why
some people converse
with empty rooms,
letting their echoes talk back
just enough to haunt them,
because they’re desperate to hear anything
they can misinterpret as genius
or at least a soul whispering
promises that they had lived
according to some sort of plan.

“The Most Metaphorical Sense”

I’ve been told I’m tone deaf,
yet appreciate the way the blues
turn empty pockets into songs
and can hear Bach’s faith
without any words
preaching to my soul
that once felt bankrupt
in the most metaphorical sense,
but now, I’m content with ghosts
who live in the static
of my thrift store alarm clock radio
and haunt me
with memories of Saturday afternoons
when I sipped beers,
believing I knew the price
of another six pack.

.

“Artistic Decisions”

My fingers could never speak
the language of paints that remind us
of colour
needing no words to be poetic
or sound to make music,
yet my hands could always compose fists
that left holes in walls
like sad notes that no one wanted
to read and my own blood became
an overused shade of red
uniting me with all the others who lied,
saying they’re okay
because they needed to focus on love
instead of the loneliness
that coloured their veins.

But now, my palms are more like maps,
to scale with the entire universe,
showing both where I’ve been
and my future routes-
the choice to travel alone or not
an artistic decision that’s mine
to make.

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Richard LeDue (he/him) lives in Norway House, Manitoba, Canada. He has been published both online and in print and is the author of numerous books of poetry. His latest full length book, “Another Another,” was released from Alien Buddha Press in May 2025.