she listened to
the cd bought by you
two birthdays ago,
classic love songs,
phone cradled by her mouth
waiting
to hear a real human
not the automated response
only the real voice had come
masked by the music,
a thousand miles away
in a call center ,
he heard her breathing
murmur of lyrics
as she sang,
his phone did not move
from his ear,
waiting to speak
too afraid to lose
the connection,
waited for her to speak first
velvetmedia 