THE PHONE RINGS
I dial. The phone rings. One, two, three, four.
Abe’s voice. Your call is important. We’re not here.
Abe can’t come to the phone. Betsy, pick up the phone!
How long are you going to live in the twilight zone?
Time to change the message. Abe’s been buried over a year.
I dial. The phone rings. One, two, three, four.
Why should it disturb me to hear Abe’s voice before
he became ill? He sounds so healthy, so near.
Abe can’t come to the phone. Betsy, pick up the phone!
I’m afraid that soon I won’t be calling you anymore.
Abe had a distinctive, sonorous voice. A pleasure to hear.
I dial. The phone rings. One, two, three, four.
Is this what you want, for friends to leave you alone?
For how long? I want to bring you some cheer.
Abe can’t come to the phone. Betsy, pick up the phone!
I’m coming by train to make sure you are there,
but first one more call before knocking on your door.
I dial. The phone rings. One, two, three, four.
Abe can’t come to the phone. Betsy, pick up the phone!
Helen Tzagoloff has been published in Barrow Street, Poetry East, The Evansville Review, Slant Poetry Journal, Poet Lore, Interpoezia: A Stranger at Home anthology and other journals. She has been nominated for the Pushcart prize and was the winner of the Icarus Literary Contest. A second book of poems: “Fears and Pleasures” has been published recently by Word Poetry.