Nancy's Singing Ghost (Poetry)

Nancy’s ghost haunts all of us
she whispers in the night
she sings those sixties lullabies
and tells us it’s all right

She knows the words of every song
we listened to back then
she has a jukebox memory
they all come round again

Nancy was a modern girl
her freedoms we all shared —
the pills, the parties and the love
as though we really cared

We all believed that Nancy knew
the secrets of the age
and game for almost anything
her star shone on life’s stage

We copied all that Nancy did
we so admired her style —
we talked like her and walked like her
and matched her smile for smile

She lived alone but not alone
her bed and board were free
for casual lovers who enjoyed
her hospitality

But no one stuck around for long
she loved but always lost
and over time pain counted up
what every heartbreak cost

They found her cold in silken sheets
the needle on the floor
grey clouds of sadness filled the place
like we’d not felt before

Each of us owns our share of guilt
because we failed to see
the sorrow trapped in Nancy’s eyes
that death at last set free

And so she haunts us one and all
each time we hear a song
that takes us back into the past
where Nancy sings along