Can Death Come Calling If You Don'T Have A Telephone? Poem by Elizabeth Sheaffer

Can Death Come Calling If You Don'T Have A Telephone?

Rating: 4.3


The sky opens up before your eye
And the rain comes pouring from the sky.
There's an old tree tap-tap-tapping on the door;
It's that tap-tap-tapping you abhor.
The faucet's drip-drip-dripping in a sink that's never clean
When the landlord's knock-knock-knocking on a door without a screen.
The television's crack-crack-crackling because the picture's never clear;
There's the Bible on a table that'll soon break down, you fear.
The mattress creak-creak-creaking as you shift in bed at night
Beside an old and grimy window never showing any light.
Day in, day out, you sit beside a fire with no heat;
Chopping wood with those old arms would be quite a feat.
The ceiling beams are wormy, and eaten up with time,
But they just may be strong enough to hold a woven line.
Loft it up and over, yes, and tie it good and tight.
You won't be sleeping in this hell-hole by tomorrow night.
A rickety chair beneath you may not hold up long enough
To slip the cord over your head and feel its texture, rough
Against your skin; tightening it slowly as you pray,
'Dear Lord, may you guide me to a new and better day.'

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Raveendran . 20 October 2007

Incredible thematization of penury from where hedonism is cherished

1 1 Reply
Terry Craddock 16 May 2015

Incredibly sustained suspense in simple deceptively clever lines, a touch of genius and terribly entertaining, thus I will read this to my daughters with a smile before releasing the lines into their rhythmic rhyming.10+++

2 0 Reply
Thad Wilk 20 October 2007

Hi Eliza! Good reminder that people are still trapped in poverty in this country still! (10) ! Thad

0 1 Reply

A well constructed POE-m, indeed...Nicely done ~FjR~

0 0 Reply
Lyn Paul 16 May 2015

This could be a poem of fear yet your description of this cold lonely room has been so well described. Read your biography with interest.

1 0 Reply
Naida Nepascua Supnet 16 May 2015

Great imagery and onomatopoeia

0 0 Reply
Jaishree Nair 16 May 2015

Poverty a terrible state that sometimes forces you to end your life.Beautifully penned.thanks

1 0 Reply
Chinedu Dike 16 May 2015

Poverty and deplorable condition of living well depicted in the poem. A nice piece of poetry, well articulated and insightfully penned with conviction. Thanks for sharing. Please read my poem MANDELA - THE IMMORTAL ICON.

2 2 Reply
Kim Barney 16 May 2015

Loved the title but was disappointed in the poem. I guess it's mostly because I don't like poems about suicide. The poem itself has many good qualities, including perfect rhyming. Congratulations on having it selected as Poem of the Day.

3 0 Reply
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