Déjà vu by Melissa Lemay

Déjà vu by Melissa Lemay

You are the ghost of
the man I never met—
that somber feeling
upon waking
in the middle of the night;

the call before
the siren
wailing through
the fog and through
the town; the moment

right before the letdown.
You’re the sight I see
crawl through the void
from the corners
of my eyes—

the dark shadow
atop the staircase;
the feeling of anticipation
during the ascension
up the hill—click, click,

click, click…
The feeling
of unknowing
before I go over the
edge; the tap-

tap-tapping,
not knowing
what I’ll get; the clean
tear. The space I can’t
stay in, I can’t catch—

you are the place
I don’t know
I want to forget.

Author’s Bio

Melissa Lemay is a stay-at-home mother from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She never graduated college. She has lived an interesting life, and her experiences shape her writing (some might call it an obsession). She writes about God, addiction, trauma, healing, being a mother, and many other things. Additionally, she enjoys spending time with family, drinking good coffee, and cats–petting them, not drinking them. Her poem, Ephemeral, was chosen as “Poetic Publication of the Year” for 2023 at Spillwords Press. Find her at https://melissalemay.wordpress.com