DEAD LINE
by Claire Scott
The line is dead
It has been dead for six months
I pay $69 a month for a dead line
I never call AT&T to have it fixed
Why you may ask (if you haven’t turned the page)
You don’t know the half of it
A year ago my mother lost her mind
Now in a home (well, hardly a home) with others
Still looking for theirs, or maybe having forgotten they ever had one
Inmates doddering and drooling, soiling their Depends
Getting lost in hallways, hollering at caregivers,
Determined to escape at night
She called me fifty times a day
They are starving me
They lock me in a closet
Steal my money
Get me out of here
You are useless
I despise you
I cut the line to the phone
With a pair of sharp scissors
Found in the back of a kitchen drawer
And that’s the all of it
Gyroscope Review - page 15
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