The Phone Call

by Tom Peters

Waiting for a phone call, going about my daily life

A lovely life indeed, with technology on my side

Spam callers are silently batted away

Questionable and untimely calls are screened

Blessed indeed most Sundays the three calls

Chris giving family updates & resting on his only day off

Jeannie chronicles grandchildren’s growth

Justin touts his children’s latest accomplishments

All Sunday Michigan calls end in ‘love you Dad’

What call am I waiting for?

The call that would triple my heart rate

May or may not come my way

From the Texas plains to the LA basin

The platoon-mate who called me ‘Amigo’

Saved my life in a fierce deadly battle

Cultivated a close friendship in hell

A dear sweet man I loved

Yet knew so little about

He sent a letter from Ft Hood

I’m a white guy, back home-union job

He’s a black man returning with a bronze star

To the Lone Star state

Not replying, a painful regret

A painful, shameful regret

Forty-six years pass

An address from the Internet

I package my recently written memoir

a letter of apology with my phone number

Whether he read it or not, he never dials my number

Fifty-six years pass I have his phone number

I call, no answer….call no answer, call no answer