Just Call Out

Donna Freeman

October 9, 2022

Monday. A bad headache. It’s already four, but I can’t wait anymore.

My throat is burning, my stomach keeps churning. I don’t know what I’ve got.

Not even a clue!

Well, there’s my cellphone. Thank goodness for that. I can call a doctor. And I do.

A voice comes on, barely hissing through, “This is the office of … Who are you?”

They hear me complain. The voice stops dead. Suddenly some music.

Not wanting to be rude, I don’t interrupt.

It’s Bach’s great B Mass.

So I shut up. (Besides I have nothing else to do).  I make my whole dinner, I’m proud to say,

and learn Bach’s Mass completely by heart while I cook the lasagna.

Yes, and clean the dishes, and put them away!

Then a voice comes on, “We look forward to seeing you.

Just wait a minute. We’ll be right back!”

So glad I got this super phone. Did I tell you what I like the best?

No, it’s not the tone.

It has this thing called mute I can press

and, like magic, give it all a rest!

Donna Freeman started writing poetry at age twelve. Her poetry appears in Wilderness House Literary Review, Blue Lake Review, and Ocean State Poets Anthology: Giving Voice. Donna's poems were selected for RI Public's Radio "Virtual Gallery" and for ekphrastic shows at Imago Gallery and Wickford Gallery.