‘Most Haunted Live!’ by Dawn Watson

In the afternoons, I wonder about Sam,
the spirit guide of the late Derek Acorah,
the medium from Most Haunted on TV.
The day his ventriloquising stopped
must have been a hard one, very hard
for a ghost of Sam’s obvious articulacy
and vast social network of poltergeists.
Who will speak for Sam now, at Halloween
when Yvette Fielding lands in with Carl
to a York manor lit up blue and green?
One thing I know, and I don’t know much,
is most of what they say about us isn’t true.
What’s that Sam? Who will speak for you
in the dry ice, in the séance, when the jib
crane picks up movement in the lobby.
Some stand-in happy medium reveals
betrayal happened here, near the chintz,
beneath the teardrop crystal chandelier.
The mounted thermal image cam reveals
a cold spot in the corner by the tall boy,
about the size of you, Sam, or smaller.

From issue #15: spring/summer 2023

About the Author
Dawn Watson is a writer from Belfast. Her debut collection We Play Here is out now with Granta Books. She is the author of the pamphlet The Stack of Owls is Getting Higher, and her work has appeared on BBC Radio 4. Dawn is a lecturer in creative writing at Queen’s University.