as if in a cliff dwelling

as if in a cliff dwelling

fiction
Edward w Pritchard



A call from someone past
first a reminder that your number is lost
business done, irritation
it's been so long, for others you express information
silence, without feedback or humanity
as you talk
you are as if in a cliff dwelling
in the vacant, barren rock enclosure where native Americans kept the children, the nursery
it's is the warmest room, where the children played in the facing sunshine, in here cut into stone
the room now barren, empty,
silent, indiscernible weeping seeps from the rock walls
you continue talking, hopeful
silence, without feedback or humanity
talk quickly, time is your enemy.