It's Still Life

A CONVERSATION WITH THE OTHER SIDE

Wrong number, my mother says.

and she’s speaking to someone
nearby, saying “I misdialled her.”

I hang up the phone.
And then pick up it back up again.
I listen. She’s still on the line.

“You haven’t hung up,” I say.
And she’s talking to me, but
she’s not saying anything.

It’s words. Words. Meaningless.
Like words read straight
from a dictionary page.

And then I wake up.
I remember what her
voice sounds like.

I’d forgotten that.

And I feel the sort of
happiness I felt when she’d
ring me on my birthday.

I wish I’d told her that I
was born on the wind, that
I’d be forever on the move.

I’m restless. That I was sorry
wind took me away from her.
That’s what I am. Restless.

I’ve always been too quiet.

Miz Quickly’s 2 July: 7 Words indicating relationship  and Earthweal: 6 July, The Maslow Hierarchy.  I looked at the Maslow’s Hierarchy, and I was reminded of a dream I had last week. I’ve gone off the theme of community (as asked) but family is (IMO) community. Photo by Wendy Scofield on Unsplash