The telephone used to ring a lot
You see it in old movies
Heroes fumbling for their change
Being pelted with rain
Pursued, hiding, and afraid
There’s only one way out
In the middle of seduction
In the parlor, lights down low
The faithful always called
The criminal element laughed
The line went dead
And it fell off the cradle
Phone booths were everywhere
Lined up in the railroad stations
City street corners; travelers
Made it from town to town
Overseas, on time, in love
Carrying pocket maps
The telephone in our house
Hung on the kitchen wall
A second one in the bedroom
When they rang, we noticed
And always took the call
You never knew who it would be
Sweepstakes or a relative
Christmas wishes, happy birthday
Long talks with a trusted friend
Short talks with a secret crush
After mustering up your nerve
You’d wait to call again
Photo: ©Julie Anderson
Doug Hoekstra
Doug Hoekstra is a Chicago-bred, Nashville-based writer and musician, educated at DePaul University in the Windy City (B.A.) and Belmont University in the Music City (M.Ed.), whose prose, poetry, and non-fiction have appeared in numerous print and online literary journals. His first set of stories, Bothering the Coffee Drinkers, was published in April 2006 and earned an Independent Publisher Award (IPPY) for Best Short Fiction (Bronze Medal). Ten Seconds In-Between, his latest collection of short stories, was published in June, 2021 on Better than Starbuckspress. Hoekstra has also worked extensively as a singer-songwriter with eight albums of original material on labels released on both sides of the pond, propelling touring throughout the U.S. and Europe, at bookstores, coffeehouses, clubs, libraries, pubs, festivals, radio stations, and castles; solo and with combos in tow. Musical highlights have included Nashville Music Award and Independent Music Award nominations, as well as many groovy happenings. 2021 also brings a new album of music, The Day Deserved. ("A lot of people write songs, Hoekstra writes five minute worlds" - Wired Magazine).
