I was sitting on the couch
with the phone in my hands
and my legs dangling. I held
that phone so many times. Putting

my lips to the line, with him on
the other side. The only thing connecting us
was the wires. Looking out the window
and seeing the clouds roll in grey as

the head of my aunty Lynn. I swallowed
back the rain. My voice was cracking
from the pain. Stillness hung the line
like a flying nun. He shut it down

like a circus clown, leaving peanut shells
scattered on the ground. After the show,
is a mess to sweep up. But he swept it all
under the carpet. So, I departed like my uncle
Finn in a bottle of Tanqueray gin.