Rob Plath

demon on the wall 

i remember as a boy 
my father taking the receiver 
off the hook
& resting it on its back 
on top 
of the phone 
so nobody could call in 
“don’t put that back 
or i’ll break yr fingers,” 
he’d growl 
i’d just stare at the way 
the ear & mouthpiece 
jutted up in the air 
like a pair of horns 
a demon on the wall 
silencing the outside world 
as we busily burned 
w/ in our little inferno