04-26-2018, 05:36 AM
No Caller ID
Each time my landline phone
shrieks I sacrifice my peace of mind
to its warbling demand
for instant obedience.
If I pick it up it always is
that Chinaman script-reading
his demand that I refill
my nonexistent order for Viagra.
If I let it ring I’ll never know
if it was you— I’d recognize
your heavy breathing anywhere,
electric perfume sweetening my ear.
Each time my landline phone
shrieks I sacrifice my peace of mind
to its warbling demand
for instant obedience.
If I pick it up it always is
that Chinaman script-reading
his demand that I refill
my nonexistent order for Viagra.
If I let it ring I’ll never know
if it was you— I’d recognize
your heavy breathing anywhere,
electric perfume sweetening my ear.
Non-practicing atheist