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Michael Steffen
Bridget Gage-Dixon
Donald Illich
Jim H. Duncan
Hugh Fulham
Robert Klein Engler
Cheryl Chambers
Louie Crew
Lynn Strongin
Elizabeth Pavlov
Benjamin Russell
Dzvinia Orlowsky
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The Voice on the Phone
Pretending I don't know who it is
on the other line, I say "one moment"
and hand the voice of the devil
to my brother, who swears to give
his soul for one night with a super
model. I snigger at his naiveté,
knowing those deals go wrong,
lemons that squeeze out blood
into half-empty glasses of nothing.
When Santa rings, I bring the phone
to my dad, who gives Mr. Claus
a list of promotions he deserved,
romances that died in high school
lockers that should've been born,
and wishes that would peel back
time's sticker to glue other lives.
I don't know what the jolly elf does,
whether he laughs, belly rumbling,
full from his Christmas cookies,
or if he apologizes for wasting
his time, this is a wrong number,
he's never delivered gifts in his life.
At the same time my dream lover
telegraphs a message I can't receive,
makes smoke signals I'm unable
to read, so the time I've wasted
waiting for her to e-mail or write,
adds up to brass rings of zeroes.
She's in a town surrounded by men,
each one vying for her attention
by killing large carnivores, thrusting
their stock portfolios under her nose,
driving expensive sports cars under
her window, honking their horns.
I want to believe she's knitting me
a blue sweater to speed up the days,
or learning new sexual techniques
with the help of her loyal maids,
but I know she's dialing wrongly,
Information mishearing my name
for another Don who's far too lucky
to appreciate her. Everything he could
wish for has appeared before him,
and he can't stop looking for other
operators, who give him the wrong
town and listing he's always lusting for.
Donald Illich has published poems in The
Iowa Review, Fourteen Hills, and New Zoo Poetry
Review. He works as a writer in Rockville, Maryland
for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
His Web site is www.floatnotswim.com, where he talks
about indie pop music and poetry.
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