The phone rang impatiently that night
Shattering the silence
My father answered
When he said "Hello"
His ruddy face
Turned ashen
He fell into the tri-cornered chair
With the needlepoint seat-cover
My mother had made.
The crystal lamp above him
Cast a blue glow over the room
"I thought she would live forever"
He cried
As if
My ninety-three-year-old
Grandmother
Were infinite
