Thursday, May 27, 2021

Shelter and Connection

If we discovered that we only had five minutes left to say all that we wanted to say, every telephone booth would be occupied by people calling other people to stammer that they loved them.
~Christopher Morley

For Poetry Friday, a poem that I think would be a great mentor text. So many other things that could be missed! From Rattle, "Don't You Miss the Phone Booth--" by Kate Peper:


DON’T YOU MISS THE PHONE BOOTH—
by Kate Peper

—a place where once you closed that hinged door
you could still look out, but now the outside world
was hushed and you were in a capsule of privacy?
The etchings of phone numbers, names and expletives
cheering you while you listened to the dial tone,
thinking, grandly, how connected you were
to those who came before you in this one booth.
And wasn’t it comforting, too, to feel the heft and solidity...

read the rest here

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Michelle Kogan has the Poetry Friday round-up. Happy birthday, Michelle!

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13 comments:

  1. Denise KrebsMay 28, 2021 at 5:49 AM

    Tabatha, yes indeed! A great mentor. I am going to spend some time thinking about possible titles for "Don't You Miss..." Peper's poem brings back memories so richly, especially the ending when shelter in a rain storm and connection with a someone who could help you find your destination was seen in the phone booth.

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  2. Carol VarsalonaMay 28, 2021 at 8:08 AM

    Thanks for bringing back the memories of phone booths, Tabatha. The booths brought a cozy comfort when connecting with others. To this day, I still love seeing them in museums. The poem captured so much of the past-"but now the outside word was hushed..."

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  3. Linda BMay 28, 2021 at 10:13 AM

    We owned an old phone booth but sadly sold it when we moved to Colorado! It was a favorite for the kids in our neighborhood to go in & pretend to make a phone call! And that's how I called my parents from college, a 'collect' call, sat on a street away from the dorm, talked & talked. I love this Tabatha, good old memories! "but now the outside world
    was hushed and you were in a capsule of privacy?"

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  4. Karen EastlundMay 28, 2021 at 10:36 AM

    There is something wonderful about a phone booth! Yet I was always a little scared that I wouldn't have the right change, or would make the wrong decision about what kind of call it was. Thanks for this, yes, I think it is a great mentor text.

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  5. jamaMay 28, 2021 at 11:06 AM

    Love this poem!! I'm happy to have that same phone booth in the photo (except mine isn't painted white) in my great room. It makes me smile whenever I see it and remember what it was like to have a public phone nearby. I do miss the sound of coins clinking down when you tried to make a long distance call.

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  6. Janice ScullyMay 28, 2021 at 3:19 PM

    The poet covered all the wonders and I do miss phone booths. I love the idea that conversations used to be more private and intimate than they seem to be now and how phone booths added drama in movies, such as Hitchcock's "M is for Murder," with Ray Milland and Grace Kelly.

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  7. mbhmaineMay 28, 2021 at 5:36 PM

    Ok, I'm gobsmacked and totally impressed that two people so far have owned phone booths! Wow! Tabatha, I agree that this would make a wonderful mentor poem. I still remember trying to get those darned doors to close correctly! lol

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  8. RuthMay 28, 2021 at 5:53 PM

    So good! I haven't really thought about it much before, but yes, I DO miss the phone booth!

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  9. Margaret SimonMay 28, 2021 at 8:33 PM

    What a wonderful dive into the phone booth for old times sake! I don't have as much of a fondness for them because using one often meant something was terribly wrong. Most times I was lost!

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  10. michelle koganMay 28, 2021 at 9:28 PM

    Beautiful, with such a flood of memories—I really like/liked phone booths they hold something mysterious and personal at the same time. Thanks also for Christopher Morley's quote on filling our last moments with love, <3!

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  11. Alan j WrightMay 29, 2021 at 2:13 AM

    The poem you have gifted us is dripping with nostalgia Tabatha. For me it was filled with a yearning for something lost, yet so ingrained in memory. Thank you for sharing this. I am moved to place it in my current notebook.

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  12. jan godown anninoMay 29, 2021 at 5:44 AM

    Appreciations for connecting us to Rattle & to poet new-to-me Kate Peper with this Look Back that will ring in my memory for a long time.
    Now i want to read more KP & perhaps find her chapbook "Dipped in Black Water" which this post spurred me to look up.

    YOU are always a great mentor to me, dear Tabatha.
    Happy Weekend!

    Jan/Bookseedstudio

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  13. Karen Edmisten May 30, 2021 at 11:10 AM

    I do miss phone booths! She has captured their essence and some of my own memories, too, so wonderfully. I remember standing in line to get to the hall phone in my dorm, freshman year. I remember what a step up it was to move into my own apartment, off-campus, and have an actual phone in my own place, all the time. :) Thanks for this lovely bit of nostalgia, Tabatha!

    And I love the idea of playing around with what else is missed.

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