LONG DISTANCE
My boyfriend said
he didn’t love me any more
as I stood at the laundromat
pay phone, with a fistful
of quarters in one hand
and a receiver in the other.
My eyes were puffy and baggy
already, from crying for a week
in front of the mirror.
I could watch myself age,
and I often did, nestled as I was
against the backdrop
of gnarled farm machinery—it was
Norman Rockwell, but not picturesque.
I swore I wasn’t stuck there.
He wasn’t stuck either,
and he let me know in no uncertain terms,
while I rocked in the late afternoon
sheen of the mirrored windows
and the operator kept asking for money.
I finally hung up,
and she called me back
because she wanted more,
so I gave it to her, $2.25 additional,
all in quarters, which I kept dropping
on the linoleum floor, and they rolled
into crevices underneath the dryers,
where they shone like the eyes
of animals trying to hide.
I kept saying,
Hang on a minute.
I’m sorry.
I’ve got it all.
I just keep dropping it.
I began to weep, so
the operator asked
what was the matter, and I wailed,
My boyfriend no longer loves me!
She said she was sorry,
and I only owed seventy-five cents more
and she would be happy to hold
until all money had been deposited.
It was the kindest thing
anyone had said to me all week.
I was able to find
all the quarters I needed
so I could continue living.
Glint Literary Journal 