Member-only story
POETRY
On the Phone
chit chat
this and that
always connected
but disconnected
at the games table
someone plays a video
about a washing machine
on speaker
unwilling to listen
I move to the next room
where music three decades
old blares inexplicably
as intrusive as a washing
machine thumping
out an off-balance rhythm
the man next to us
calls an acquaintance far away
unwilling to eavesdrop
(tho sorely tempted)
I write this poem instead
chit chatting
about this, and also that
with you, who
until now
has been a stranger
sitting quietly
connected
disconnected
dialed in tho far away
possibly on the phone
and reading
True story! I told you, I’m always there for the material. Anybody else driven a little bit crazy by the whole listening-to-something-on-speaker-in-public trend? Also, why do people talk on speakerphone in crowded places? Are we backsliding toward walkie talkies? (Remember when phones did that beeping thing?)
FWIW I do realize that if I want to work in quiet I ought to choose the library.
Thanks, readers!
