Voice Mail From Mom Poem by David Whalen

Voice Mail From Mom

Buzzing sound awakes me
I pull covers up over my head
Chiming ring irritates me
I burrow deeper in my bed

Voice mails chime finally placates me
Sleep returns in it’s stead
Alarm clock’s buzzing awakes me
To a day of despair that I dread

This day when my mom would be buried
To hear from, to see never more
Loneliness and regret overtake me
As I numbly start out of the door

The feel of the phone on my hip makes me recall
And remember the call from last night
When I look at the screen my jaw starts to fall
At the caller’s name that’s displayed in plain sight

“Mom” is blackly displayed on florescent background
Surely this mail can’t be true!
My finger hits “one” after frenzied fumbling around
A cruel practical joke or mistake has ensued

Yet, that sweet, familiar voice, makes my heart swell
As mom reassures me in a voice so sublime
“Son, I’m content and pain-free, and young again as well
So goodbye son, be happy, everything will be fine

I press seven and wonder, did this really occur?
This call from somewhere beyond
I know for sure that I’ll tell no one
And that today not my mom, but empty shell we’ll inter