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
