6. News Will Arrive From Far Away

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by Dana Gioia

News will arrive from far away: the phone
rings unexpectedly at night,
and a voice you almost recognize
will speak. Soft and familiar,
it mentions names you haven't heard for years,
names of another place, another time,
that street by street restore
the lost geography of childhood.
Half asleep you listen in the dark
gradually remembering where you are.
You start to speak. Then silence.
A dial tone. An intervening voice.
Or nothing. The call is finished.
Not even time to turn the lights on.
Now just the ticking of the clock,
the cold disorder of the bed.

Comments

  1. BrigitteAugust 30, 2009 at 7:04 AM

    I like this very much and you are an excellent writer :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownAugust 30, 2009 at 3:21 PM

    Feels so sad...
    endings renewed.
    ;-(

    ReplyDelete
  3. dsAugust 30, 2009 at 6:21 PM

    "the cold disorder of the bed." That says it all, doesn't it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousApril 27, 2010 at 4:22 AM

    I love this poem. A question: Is the "6." part of the title? Or was the poem number six in a list of poems, and the 6. has been inadvertantly copied and pasted? I've seen it posted online with and without the numeral in front of it.

    ReplyDelete

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Hey, thanks for your thoughts and your time:>)

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