Call Waiting

I killed you!
I took away your power to insult.
Never again will your strident, insistent beeping
intrude on intimacies between friends.

No. I struck you off.
I pressed the buttons that devoured you.
I ended your reign of terror.
Then Pauline rang
‘A new baby? Wond....’
Beep - Beep! Beep - Beep!

You didn’t die!
From happy jubilation
brain switches,
buttons pressed,
retreating “Call me back.”

I lost the war.

I don’t blame Pauline.
Rudeness is forgiven under pressure
from the mighty “I wonder who it is?”
Someday I’ll explain
and continue my campaign
for courtesy.

I died a little.

Aren’t I important too?





(Sketch of Pauline by Jessica McCallum)

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This seems so dated now ~ I was annoyed at the automatic installation of 'Call Waiting' by our local Telco and thought it so rude! It was during a call to my good friend Pauline it really hit home!
Not knowing how to take it off and considering whoever I was speaking to first had (telephone) right of way, I wasn't going to interupt them or cut them short because someone else was ringing! Basic courtesy - right?
Now of course, all sorts of applications are old hat - we easily remove it and being unaware of the new call, can ignore the seduction of an unknown caller!

Cynical Cinquains

.

1. She lay
prostrate. Waiting.
Will he stay a while when
their beating hearts have calmed down?
Never.


2. You glow
with love for me.
Accepting all I give,
never questioning if I love.
I don’t.


3. Tears fall
like rivers of
pain. Rejection will hurt.
Just touch him and say goodbye to
your heart.


4. It glows.
The safe ribbon
of light, meandering
on toward home. But my path was
unlit.

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A French style of poem which I was introduced to during a workshop and found fascinating.
These are all around the subject of love lost or found... wanted or needed... rejected or accepted: twists and turns found in most people's love lives - real or imagined.

This style of Cinquain has a very strict line structure and metre.

1 st line: 2
2 nd line: 4
3 rd line: 6
4 th line: 8
5 th line: 2 ~ with a twist!

Have a go - it's great fun!