Sunday Feature By Sankalpita Mullick

The phone rings

The phone rings once the phone rings twice,
Phones calls like bandages
I wait impatiently, twisting my scrunchie, slipping in and out of my shoes
Waiting to tell you the daily happenings and news.

The phone rings thrice, the ringtone echoes again,
I wait impatiently to tell you goodmorning before class and goodnight before bed
No matter how our day’s been and what we have said

The phone rings four times,
I am sick and in bed and fully red with broken temperatures and broken hearts, fully falling apart, hesitantly on the call I tell you bye.
But you stay on call, because you know only in front of you can I really cry

The phone rings six times, like a broken alarm clock filled with with infinite love and time
From me to you and you to me, what more than love is divine, what more than love is so kind.