The Call
︎︎︎︎︎ Bronwen Lam
︎ July 17, 2023
“Don’t you want to get that?” you said
Phone ringing like a fire alarm
I didn’t want to get it
So I didn’t
And as it rang across the room
Buildings burned
People clambered down ladders, down bed sheets
Flames licked glass and brick
The timer went off in the kitchen
“Pizza’s ready,” you said
We turned the AC on, the oven off
I put the pizza on the table
I put the phone on silent
The call would come again
But I didn’t plan to answer
Phone ringing like a fire alarm
I didn’t want to get it
So I didn’t
And as it rang across the room
Buildings burned
People clambered down ladders, down bed sheets
Flames licked glass and brick
The timer went off in the kitchen
“Pizza’s ready,” you said
We turned the AC on, the oven off
I put the pizza on the table
I put the phone on silent
The call would come again
But I didn’t plan to answer
Bronwen Lam lives and writes in NYC. Her work has appeared in The Drunken Canal and in emails to her mom.
Also by Bronwen: Toxic