This Poem Moved Me

The living twitch with desire,
Light, water, food, mates, waste, shade—
And, if they’re human beings,
The living twitch with language,

Which is dangerous as well.
Meanwhile, the dead are quiet,
Back to mere being again.
So, why is it we fear them?

Remember that thing I said
About humans and language?
I was human writing this,
But what you have here’s language,

And language is dangerous.
If these phrases, ghosts themselves
Tell you that dead flesh can move,
You know we lie—yet you’re spooked.