Never knew what true loneliness was
until mother died,
at the time I was a middle-aged man
living far from home.
There was the phone
someone to complain to about life
and she reminded me to wear long johns
when the weather was cold.

Then the unlikely happened,
grief and a silent phone.
I’m an adult now
have to sort out my own problem
but when loneliness is a mist of gloom
I remember her phone number,
it’s engraved on my mind,
ring her and complain about life.