Answering the Phone
Used to be
you'd say
Hello
and think nothing of it
or else someone else might do it
for you
He's out may I take a message
and you'd return the call
When Bobby died
and the man across the street
and Bill
and Mr. G.
all that changed
and you think
now before you answer the phone
and take a deep breath
and think something of it
and you know
no one else can ever answer
for you again
so now you pick up the receiver
and say not hello but
now what
now what
by John Stone
from In All This Rain
Louisiana State University Press, 1980
.