2001/pause

3:09 p.m.
I pause from work
for a snack,
rice crackers
with goat cheese.
The little bit
of dairy I ever
eat.
Lately the crackers
taste better than
ever.
Crisp. And extra
salty.
Like the cheese,
one of the few
processed grains
in my diet.

You call before
I finish,
alone in the office,
with words of love
which I gobble at,
expecting yet another
phone solicitor.
Pouncing the receiver
with attitude.
I cannot seem to get
on everyone’s don’t
call list, although
it is the only reason
the phone ever rings

I considered a new listing,
letting this one die
a neglected death.
Credit card offers
and mortgage companies,
people mistaking us
for the grocery store
with the similar number,
all day long they interrupt
my concentration,
whether I succumb to
the ring or not.
It used to be a pleasant
thing the ringing phone,
we assumed it would be
someone we knew at least.
But no longer. All that has changed.
As I am realizing
so much has.

4/4/01
(not in journal)