Jul 2018
Before my first day of school
I knew how to read and write
But mom thought it important
That I memorize
Our home phone number.
In retrospect
She worried that a stranger
Might sweep me up and secret me away.
How cute.
That one’s deepest fear
Would be kidnapping
And how sweet
That her dearest friend
The one she couldn’t bear to lose
Would be her five-year-old
Good times
I knew how to read and write
But mom thought it important
That I memorize
Our home phone number.
In retrospect
She worried that a stranger
Might sweep me up and secret me away.
How cute.
That one’s deepest fear
Would be kidnapping
And how sweet
That her dearest friend
The one she couldn’t bear to lose
Would be her five-year-old
Good times
A "home phone number" refers to old style land line phones that were not mobile. Land lines were usually tetheted to a wall or they sat on a desk or table.
