The boy watches
An Empty Bed
to
Hold Him
How can she like someone That grates her nerves? All he does is call...
the television
with a blank stare. A sage, it gives him all he needs to know. It gives him a view of life lived in half-hour blocks, and plastic death on the 6 o'clock news. -Scott Walker
call...
call!
—
any time. night It doesn't matter if she's Tired, sick, or sleeping She gets so annoyed That she turns off the phone So she can't hear the rings And waits for the caller To respond to the rude
Day and
Answering machine messag Though,
How
can she hate him?
—human. —
He's just like her He's just like her
lonely.
He comes home To an empty apartment, an empty living room, an empty kitchen, an empty bedroom, an empty bed.
And all he wants is someone "How was your day?" Just needs
someone
to call,
to listen, to hold his hand. to hold him.
And
he
still calls...
calls...
calls.
And
she
still
doesn't answer. -Tanya Cochran Flr<;t
pri -f winner, art
Drawing by Matthew Brass