Ann Howells
Phone Rings at Night
I stand frozen,
watching the cave mouth,
watching something large
emerge, come closer, closer
when my phone rings,
clock flips a ghostly 5:03.
I pull slacks over pajamas,
shoes over bare feet.
Rain hangs suspended.
Throat is dry; eyes are wet.
I approach Father's bedside,
knowing I am too late
again, this final time.
Bio
Ann Howells' work has recently appeared in Crannog (Ire), San Pedro River Review, and Spillway, among others. She's edited Illya's Honey since 1999, recently going digital. Her recent books: Under a Lone Star (Village Books Press), Cattlemen and Cadillacs, anthology of DFW poets which she edited (Dallas Poets Community Press), and a chapbook, Softly Beating Wings, which won the William D. Barney Contest for 2017 (Blackbead Books).