The ghost will come, he said,
early in the mornings.
She will ask you to buy flour,
to buy dough, to buy bread.
Tell her you don't need any today
and she will go away quietly.
Do you understand? That's all.
Just say you don't need it.
The last people to have this apartment
were an American couple.
Very rich, very handsome,
plump all over like a stuffed sofa.
They would keep trying to buy bread
from the ghost, and asking questions.
Then she would start wailing
for her flowers and her lost children.
It's better not to make loud noises.
Other people live in the building.
It is a very good apartment,
he says, mopping his face,
But this job gets me down, sometimes,
dealing with Americans and ghosts.
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