vague apparitions

i think about the dead.
the friends
gone.
deceased way too early
for my liking.
the relatives who have passed.
the relationships
of my life
still living but essentially
no longer

in the picture.
those ships have sailed
and sunk
completely out of view.
i see their numbers in my
phone.
i see their faces

their pale images, like
ghosts
vague apparitions.
in time they too will fade
from memory, and be
replaced by the new.