Communing with the dead

“Anybody who chooses
may make his own Ouija
board.”—James Merrill,
“On Scripts for the Pageant:
The First Five Lessons,” Prose

Anybody can do it—
It’s really very easily done,
Anybody can become a seer,
Anybody can be clairvoyante,
Lost Pilgrims are dime-a-dozen.

Anybody can be an Adept—
Even those inept, hare-lipped,
Cross-eyed, gimpy, spastic,
Even bums, sluggards, slackers,
College graduates, the unemployed.

Use a teacup’s handle—
To point across the paper, then
Write across the top in Capital
Letters A to Z, 10 Arabic numbers,
YES & NO, a half-moon between.

Two mediums sit at a table—
The left-handed teacup medium
Can transcribe the messages,
Let the overturned teacup move,
Let the Land of Death speak.