The Physics of Being a Ghost

Colleen Hildebrand

“List, list, O list!”
~Shakespeare, Hamlet, I.5.28

Across the electromagnetic spectrum
the light we can see
creates color–
Prismatic and believed by some
to be a biblical covenant,
promised redemption
which some say these bodies need
just for being born 

Yet there is also ultraviolet
and infrared
radiating in waves
invisible yet real–
X-rays can pass through solids
and radio waves carry words and music
wireless through thin air
like magic no one questions 

But the magic of my existence…
I wish I could explain how it happens,
this being born
again 

Within the body there is light
that must be let go
as electrons, excited by the process
of dying,
release energy 

At least that’s the start of it

So, yes, I am still here
in the energy
that cannot be destroyed
but is merely changed
in form 

Though the body organic returns
to earth
all the thought, feeling—
the healing light—
moves on
at speed you would not believe 

Who can unravel a miracle,
explain quantum anything?
Seeing isn’t always believing
And numbers can be as irrational
as the sudden scent of gardenias
in a moving car
or the quick glimpse that’s gone
before you see it,
the sound that wakes you
in a silent room,
or the faint brush of fingertips
invisible across your cheek 

I am here
So, listen, please listen,
You really do hear me
in the silence
because

Consciousness continues
And it is a hard problem,
But it is one to be accepted
rather than solved—
a fundamental force
like gravity
and love
like magic
few understand
and no one
questions.

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Colleen Hildebrand
A lifetime resident of Louisiana, Colleen is an author, artist, and educator. With over thirty years of classroom experience, Colleen aims to help others find beauty in creative processes of both art and life, even when those present challenges. In the Ether: A Memoir of Holding Space is her first book.