on rotary dial phones
zeroes caused existential angst
why, oh why did it take so long
to call a favored friend?
our own first number as a
married pair, 935-5000, swell,
we were stuck in zero hell.
remember party lines? so romantic did they seem,
and lettered exchange names: YUkon-9, PEnnsylvania-7, BUtterfield-8
before area codes took their place.
sentimentality aside, one fact stands alone:
no motorists died whilst talking on
a rotary telephone.
Praying for Eyebrowz 