 |
| Sarolta Ban Photograph Visual prompt provided by Magpie Tales |
The phone rang
My stomach clinched
Already he was too
clingy
An invasive
vine
Strangling me.
I backed away
as if it were a snake
stretching across
years
And miles
to bind
me.
An innocent call
from a long ago friend
phone to reconnect.
Innocent
INTRUSIVE
creepy
terrifying me.
The answering machine
recording his abusive threats
Pick up you BITCH
Answer ME
Evidence
my life
was no longer mine.
J. Binford-Bell
June 2015
His name was Elliot and once we have been great friends within a group of friends. I have no memory of doing things just with Elliot. He was just one of the six or eight of us who hung together.
He was always somewhere in the circle as the Tequila was passed.
We lost track.
Life moves on.
He called to say hi having gotten my telephone from one of my very public art websites.
That call was fun. Sharing old memories.
Call 22 on the next day was not. I turned off my cell phone. Stopped answering the land line.
My stalker had invaded my life.
My police report. And restraining order. Cleaning all my guns.
Three years of terror because Google maps and my website let him know where I lived.
Sometimes being off the grid and unknown seems like a good thing.
ReplyDeleteCall 22 became Catch 22...
ReplyDeleteYour poem is really well done, but I'm so sorry you had to live through the frightening, creepy reality that inspired it.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant poem but a terrible experience. Any sort of intrusion is horrible but that kind especially, is frightening.
ReplyDeleteA scary situation and your poem conveys those emotions very well.
ReplyDeleteOmg, is it true, stay safe.
ReplyDeleteHoly crap!! That is so scary!! Very well written!! I can sense your fear in your words. Well done!
ReplyDelete