The landline rang breaking

the silence of the quiet morning,

I awoke, but didn’t get up,

It felt like a forewarning.

 

It’s shrill song pierced my ears,

I froze on my bed, eyes filled with tears,

My mind screaming over the racket,

‘Ignore it, it will make it not real’

 

Mum’s in the hospital,

Tubes down her throat,

She can’t be getting any better

If someone’s calling at 4.

 

I hear my father pick up,

His silence is loud and clear,

I hide under my blanket

Wisps of hope destroyed by mounting fear.

 

I don’t want to hear it,

The terrible news he brings,

I shatter, I break when he speaks,

what I knew had happened from the very first ring.