I want to whisper things
that no one would ever send in a text message,
not for profundity or profanity
but because they are too common
to read on a screen. I want to lie
in the sweltering heat of isolation
that allows the cool breeze of loneliness
on the veranda
where the dead screams of the internet
meet the disapproval of Kentucky
and irrelevance showers us all
with ignoble blessings.

For it is only here where the ghosts laugh,
ancient ones who looked up at the stars for centuries
believing them to be sighs
in the ditches of darkened roads. 

Benjamin Schmitt’s poetry has been published in Solo Novo, The Monarch Review, Blue Lyra Review, Otis Nebula, The Pacific Review, and elsewhere. His first book was published in 2013 by Kelsay Books. It is entitled The global conspiracy to get you in bed. He currently lives in Seattle with his wife where he teaches workshops to both children and adults.