Bad Reception

Getting angry over the phone
isn’t as easy anymore. Spiteful
texts or reigning down curses
can only do so much to release,
express the anger of jealousy
or betrayal, or selfishness, or
immaturity. All we have is a
spineless “send” key that we
can only press so hard, a cover
we can only flip down or slide
closed.  I miss the times when
I could slam a receiver down to
an impossible to break mustard
yellow wall mount in the kitchen
hallway or on the putrid olive green
table model with the emergency
poison sticker in the center
of the rotary dial. That crack of
thunder was an expression of real anger—
no weaseling out of that conversation
due to “bad reception” or a dying battery.

2/4/11