Phone Message Poem by Delilah Miller

If that phone rings across the other line,
just one more time,
I don't know how much longer I can keep my mind.
Because you're not going to pick up,
I'll end up again hanging up.
If I have to hear a message machine
the only directive I can leave is 'Shut up! '

Honestly,
it's ending me and that's not enough.
And the energy it takes to dial, to wait,
is too much.
There's no brick wall to challenge, but there's no place to go.
You think it's altruistic how you can't say straight no.
Being that compassionate,
You're the most blatant, victorious dishonesty I know.
Just say the deferential words you have to.
I'm so tired of hearing them from your phone.