Two Poems by Z.H. Gill
rambling down the bank, i set my
pace to the speed at which you
drift there in the water—
i do this to prolong
our discussion.
———
Spirit Chimes
We’re here for what’s beneath my feet. Raw, extreme. We’re in Portland, Oregon. You
grew up here. I know you’re from here. Is it weird being here now? It is—now I know
about all the hauntings here. We need to know what went on down here. These were
sailors, loggers, cowboys, sheepherders, transients, not residents. The captain softened
the transients with liquor or drugs. [An innocent night out turns into a nightmare in the blink
of an eye.] This was called a deadfall. Down the trap door, hauled off to a cell. These are
like bones. These are like human remains. More knock-out drops and they bring you to
a ship. You’re safe. I’m sure a lot of them sobered up and tried fighting back. I’m sure
a lot were tortured, beaten, killed down here. The objective wasn’t to kill them but
people did die. There is an aggressive energy down here that’s not very subtle. A brick
flying at you. Tell us where. We were on our hands and knees, digging out the half-buried
boots we found down here. It probably would have killed me. I’d have been sitting in their cell
on the other side. There are 13 sets of wind-chimes here in the Shanghai Tunnels. We have
them set up to pick up spirit energies. We call them spirit chimes. When spirits pass through
or close enough they will sway or they will ring. This particular set, after a tour passed
through and no one was in this area, the chimes started swinging back and forth. There
is no airflow down here. There is no way they would ring normally. Follow me this way.
Fancy rooms for kidnapping and prostitution. One spirit is most prevalent. She lived along
the river. This is where she died. Some of them were on the take. She was thrown down
the elevator shaft. She is not happy. These pimps are so good at what they do. They can
get kids who are in a knotted mess out on the street having sex for money. What was taking
place below ground is now taking place above ground. Thank you so much. I can’t wait to
do this. Now we can better understand the horrors of human trafficking. If we manage
to track down the spirits of the Shanghai’d, we will know their dark ways. These young
girls are brainwashed. If you’re out of the gang, you have to face getting your ass kicked
or even killed. [Remember: this is strictly investigative fieldwork. This is the 2011 version
of the cells of the Shanghai Tunnels.] We’re young and stupid. No guns or knives or grenades.
The price of freedom all too often is death. We are sealed underground. I just saw
a lady standing right here. We have infrared cameras. We can’t help but right away feel as
if we are in another dimension of time. They earthquake-proofed this building two
years ago. They took their shoes so they couldn’t get too far away. We’re using our SB7
spiritbox device to allow the spirits to communicate directly with us. The first voice coming
through appears to be a female asking What are you doing? We hear her say He fell.
I think I saw a lady standing right here. I thought I saw what appeared to be a lady.
It shuttered in and out. It rippled. Did I just see a lady standing here and, if so, what
is your name? What do you want to do with me? There’s a crazy energy right in this room,
bro. This door just rattled. It may be daytime, but we are isolated deep in the tunnels. We
hear a female talking to a male, saying I can’t believe you. We’re only receiving voices when
we ask questions. When we don’t ask questions, all we’re getting is white noise. What were
you doing when you were Shanghai’d? What were you drinking? It was someone. That
was cool. We decide to set up a new piece of equipment. If any shadow interrupts these green
beams of light, the receiver will alarm. I would be pretty pissed off if I was a spirit Shanghai’d
down here. Whoa whoa whoa whoa. All we see is an empty room. All of us at this
moment are hit with a disturbing feeling. Something unexplained happens. We must focus
our attention on it. [Look.] Our shadow detector is alarming, capturing something, a white
wispy-type anomaly in the center of the video-frame. We must rule out drafts and gusts of air.
Open that door up. We’re going to split up. We have four cameras rolling throughout the
Shanghai Tunnels. I hunt ghosts for a living and I’m good at talking to them. I have a device.
It will let me know about a presence. Someone or something is very close to us. Are
you causing this? The whole place is a decrepit jail. I felt a cold blast of air go right though
me. On the EMF detector, .5, .4. I’ve been shooting with the thermal camera for 15 minutes
without capturing a single anomaly—until a purple form moves through the doorway. This
torso-like form appears to have no legs as it slowly moves through the area. I’m lightheaded.
I’m going to pass out. .3 right now. [Dude.] It’s pretty shocking. There is something down
there. Watch. A purple figure moving slowly toward him. It’s solid purple. Meaning
no body heat. You found something. I think it’s great that you found something. You
should come back sometime. You’ll find some more.
———
Comments
Post a Comment