# #voices

2 poems

## [dial](https://chromato.graphics/dial)

two-tone composition  
unknown destinations  
an operator obsesses  
over pickup & hangup

one +1 more connected  
than 2. you will. _and_  
_the company that will_  
_bring it to you is me_

push digits into holes,  
keep spinning until you  
feel the click in place  
switch arms, hands tire

blinking countless lines,  
voice carrying fast & far  
on continuous copper wire  
silence costs us as much—

draw X’s & O’s in octothorps  
sleep clutching our handsets  
there is so much to exchange  
during long-distance calling

## [violet](https://chromato.graphics/violet)

your aperture narrows  
as _f_ /our voices deepen  
sunlight burns through  
exposed cloth shutters

we made you to protect  
an us we never realized  
would be safe as she is  
it’s no decorative pansy

darkrooms reveal stains  
& splatters under safety  
lightbulb, glowing ruby  
our eyes don’t adjust yet

we have twins, don’t we?  
is it sisters, not twins?  
god, no that’s a different  
flower entirely — rosemary