Is it you on the other end of the line
hesitant to speak to me, pausing for a moment
to register my hello so you know my number
stayed the same, my last name remains mine?
Though my voice isn’t young as when we last spoke,
don’t you hear a familiar timbre?
Still you hesitate so as not to startle me
after all this time. Dots string out like an ellipsis
in the endless sentence of your absence.
I hear static-filled ticking, then
a friendly stranger mispronounces my name.
Recognizing a pitch to sell something
and feeling foolish, I hang up quickly.
Won’t you ever break your long silence?
Sorrow and anger keep my line open to you.
Margaret Hasse, “Hoping to Hear from a Former Friend” from Between Us. Copyright © 2016 by Margaret Hasse. Reprinted by permission of Margaret Hasse.
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