New poem: "Benny's Phone Call"

 

Benny’s Phone Call

 

Benny died, and Karen, one of his twelve

children, did not get a chance to have the talk

she had been putting off, and now she felt

guilty and unresolved. Then she got a phone

call in the middle of the night one year after

Benny’s funeral, and to her astonishment,

it was her father. They talked about her guilt,

her drinking, and the problems with her mother,

and he told her that he loved her and not to

worry because everything would be all right,

and he said goodnight. Karen hung the phone

up and sat down on a kitchen chair, not knowing

if she was dreaming or awake; then one of her

children walked into the kitchen, and she

said, “Mommy, I can’t sleep.”

 

In memory of a good friend.

Composed in Nipigon, Ontario,

Date unknown