Hoping to Hear from a Former Friend

Is it you on the other end of the line

hesitant to speak to me, pausing for a moment

to register my hello so you know my number

stayed the same, my last name remains mine?

Though my voice isn’t young as when we last spoke,

don’t you hear a familiar timbre?

Still you hesitate so as not to startle me

after all this time. Dots string out like an ellipsis

in the endless sentence of your absence.

I hear static-filled ticking, then

a friendly stranger mispronounces my name.

Recognizing a pitch to sell something

and feeling foolish, I hang up quickly.

Won’t you ever break your long silence?

Sorrow and anger keep my line open to you.