‘… it is human nature to believe that the phenomena we know are the only ones that exist.’

– Marie Curie
Twenty observations from the séance:

in approximate chronological order: One:

a dim room: a chair upholstered: in Utrecht velvet:

presumably for our hostess: Two: a semi-circle

of spiritualists: they wave to me: genteel

and credulous: Three: here comes: the medium:

her gown: a millefeuille of tulle and silk: I am confident:

from a visual inspection: that the pocket space: is ample:

for a dagger: or: a vial of eau-de-vie: or both: Four:

a curtain rippling: without the assistance: of a breeze:

Five: the table that arises: from the lush Kashmiri carpet:

Six: a zither: without zitherist: it emits

a familiar refrain: Seven: I cannot explain: the source

of the bottle: which whooshed over my head:

and dashed itself: to shards: against the tiled

hearth: Eight: the room: falling dark: at the snap

of her fingers: Nine: a blue haze: it: illuminates

her face: she appears: to sprout: additional limbs:

excess appendages: bonus heads: Ten: her eyes flit:

she floats: wrenched up: suddenly: the way the hanged drop:

but in reverse: Eleven: I see myself: with an iron rod:

stirring the cauldron: those tonnes of dirt: from

an Austrian bog: I make them: into a miracle: small enough:

to fit: into a teaspoon: fifty times: Twelve: the substances

I touched: the burns which appeared: days later:

like saints’ faces: in bread or wood: rewarding faith:

Thirteen: Pierre and I: our wounds: which healed:

but in reverse: a red blotch: would grow redder:

scale and scab: then fall away: to reveal: a fresh ulcer:

Fourteen: we were overjoyed: at our fingertips:

swelling up: like tight red grapes: Fifteen: after a time:

we touched: one another: and felt nothing:

Sixteen: My husband’s skull: pulverised

by a carriage wheel: Seventeen: my cheek: against

his coffin: the attempt: to absorb: whatever:

might emanate: from his remains: Eighteen: oh

my hostess: you can’t scare someone: who

has already guessed: what it is we mean:

by ghost: Nineteen: what’s left behind:

after matter: changes state: Twenty: that fraction:

of the original: which manages: to escape.