"I was shut up in a room where there is a ghost till after dark..." ~ Jane Eyre

An article today discussed how a 165 year-old whaling boat in Mystic Seaport has an apparition appearing to various visitors in various moments.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12463177/

Personally, I don't believe in these types of ghosts. I know there are people who do, but in the end I believe these images of apparitions stem from somewhere else, not from any supernatural world. However, one can't ignore the presence of ghosts in poetry and prose, even from Homer's time. The most profound ghost stories of them all coming from Poe.

I believe that Poe wrote ghost stories as a catharsis. We all have ghosts in our head, and sometimes a person is unable to cope with their haunting presence, so perhaps Poe projected the ghosts in his head into Miss Annabel Lee. If you have studied the poet, you will see the correlation between Poe's romantic life and Annabel Lee in the verse. http://www.poemhunter.com/p/m/poem.asp?poet=3094&poem=14890

The supposed ghost on the whaling boat resides in a kingdom by the sea, just as Annabel Lee resides in one of her own. Last night, Cassie and I were discussing what can trigger a ghost to haunt one's head. It could be as minute as inhaling the scent of a particular perfume or as immense as being emerged in a large city. There is sometimes a sweetness when experiencing moments which invoke the ghosts of friends past and family past. Its the ghosts of one's romantic past that always seem to be the most haunting.

Perhaps some of this explains our fascination with ghosts. After all, they are what bring us closest to the deepest of our emotions. Believing in ghosts becomes a Catch-22. The soul of the ghost is not at rest, nor is yours. Yet, there is a strong desire for it to remain because we want to still feel as close to that person as we did once.

I recently saw Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind one grey afternoon after a long day at work. The film's message about embracing the ghosts in one's head hit me over mine. I must admit that they are more in my head than in my soul; Poe's Lee haunts his soul. I don't think I would erase the ghosts from my memory; I embrace them. They are ghosts for a reason, are they not? Almost all of them have become as transparent for me as a white sheet.

Still, I do feel sadness when they appear. There is a sense of the ridiculousness of what conjures my ghosts of loves past, yet I avoid many of them at all costs. Don't provoke a ghost, for that would be very unwise. I don't eat oreo cookies anymore but because I see one and in my head I am forced to think about what it is like to feel a true, and I mean a true, passionate, undying love. Just like Poe, I have two kingdoms by the sea that haunt me. I think it will take years, if not a decade, to go back to the city of Boston. Thankfully I have not smelled Polo Sport on any man in 5 years. As much as I love Frantoni's pizza, I can't walk in there anymore. I once threw the most beautiful dress out because I couldn't bear to look at it in fear of being haunted by a ghost. It was brown with pink brocade on it; a Betsey Johnson. Jeff Buckley's voice could be part of this post's soundtrack in addition to arias by Cecilia Bartoli. It took three trips down Second Avenue before I stopped getting teary over passing a Dunkin' Donuts.

A Dunkin' Donuts.

Unbelievable.

Or, rather, believable.

Perhaps I will tell their story one day. Or perhaps I will not. It depends on which ghosts I believe are worth sharing...

We all have ghosts, remorse, dreams, things we love and hate. One day something in life - a word, a phrase, something in a book, a beautiful woman - clicks, and part of that world takes on a special meaning. And you realize you have a story to tell. ~ A. Reverte