POHLY, KAITLYN
Kaitlyn Pohly
Age: 16, Grade: 10
School Name: Dalton School, New York, NY
Educator: Chris Hood
Category: Poetry
Mama
The moon begins to fade into blends of orange and red
As the night rolls further down a winding, twisting road.
My hands tremble as I dial the number
Plastered and frayed above the kitchen counter.
“Mama,” I whisper
As the clock continues, its endless march of time.
The line is silent on the other end
An incessant buzz of nothingness, yet
My ear stays plastered to the plastic
“Mama?”
It’s past the time when she returns
From her days of making feather beds and
Nights of scrubbing kitchen floors
For men in fancy suits
And ladies in shimmering pearls
Her days are always long and hard
Eyelids heavy with the sleep
She never gets
So I sit and wait,
Wait for her to come home
And stroke my hair,
And sing me a song,
And say “Mama loves you, goodnight.”