Wednesday, May 20, 2015

The Phone Rang

The Phone Rang


The phone rang. Somebody said
I had to return home at once.
He was in intensive care.
He had been better, why this now?

I had to return home at once.
I would take the six o’clock train.
He had been better, why this now?
They’d said he’d be home for Christmas.

I would take the six o’clock train.
She was there, she was with him.
They’d said he’d be home for Christmas.
I needed to see him and he would be better.

She was there, she was with him,
so I couldn’t talk to her.
I needed to see him, he would be better.
He was recovering, or so they’d said.

No, I couldn’t talk to her.
He was in good hands.
He was recovering, or so they’d said.
He must have known I was coming.

He was in very good hands.
That was as much as they would tell me.
He surely knew I was coming.
Everything would be OK now.

That was as much as they had told me.
I was standing on my threshold.
Everything would be OK now.
I saw my mother and understood.

I was standing on my threshold.
The dining room was full of people.
I saw my mother and understood why
they’d wanted me to come home at once.


This pantoum was my Week 4 assignment for How Writers Write Poetry.

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