The asterisk calls. It leaves a message:

It says, You stood me up. You don’t return
my calls or texts. You didn’t go to work
yesterday. I wanted to ask whom you met
for lunch. What did you eat, and where
did you go afterwards? I waited at the bar
till 1 a.m. then took a walk and fell asleep
on a bench at the end of the pier. I woke
quite stiff, feeling crumpled at the edges.
No one bothered me, not even the seagulls
raucous for their breakfast. From above,
I must have looked like an ink-colored speck,
mere footnote amid the city’s detritus.
My fingers hover above the keypad as I listen
to the prompt: To erase, press *7.

[LAG-other-response date=”09 07 2012″ url=”https://www.vianegativa.us/2012/09/asterisk/” title=”Via Negativa: Asterisk”]