balancing the receiver in the crook of his neck,
he went on scribbling something on his notepad;
apparently the phonecall did not hold attention.
in his line of work, he got ten such calls in average
on any given day. good manners made him listen
and grunt his responses, doodling all the while.
one such day, he was found in the same postion
but with a massive heart attack claiming his life;
without a will all his wealth was lost to various taxes.
"same desk, same chair, now his wife had taken over
rebuilding the lost company right from the scratch"
Oh god, my mother went through a stage of calling me to make sure that I didn't hold the receiver in the creek of my neck--instant stroke, she was convinced. Of course I wouldn't have spent so much time holding the phone if we didn't have to speak five times a day, but...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the memory and I hope his wife was more successful
i feel for the family left behind ,,, but dang,, i wanna go like that,,, boom all gone.
ReplyDeleteDid not know about the connection between phone in the crook of the neck and instant stroke. So thankful - you learn something new every day! :)
ReplyDeletethey say that cell phones can cause cancer, now I find they can cause stroke!!!
ReplyDeletenice post
Happy 3WW!
There's nothing better than going quick, without warning, doing what you want to do ...
ReplyDelete.... I hope.
steerforth and daily panic, I do not think I intended any connection between holding the phone in the crook of the neck and that stroke. I was only narrating it. Obviously it is my mistake that I couldn't get that across.
ReplyDeleteWhat I meant to imply here was, death is so swift. It comes without warning.Why should there be any connection at all, with anything we do?
Kind of a bummer, he worked so hard, always on the phone, yet never took the time to put his affairs in order for his family. To me this poem tells me to enjoy life now, find my joy when I can. Once again, you tell a tale with such consice language.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting, unique take on this prompt. Really enjoyed reading this work.
ReplyDeletewww.mypoeticpath.wordpress.com
wow, what an interesting take on those words. very creative
ReplyDeleteoh what a twist. dying from work and looks like the same fate to his wife. interesting.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the woman who kept her husband's corpse in clean clothes for three or four weeks after he died in his office so she could keep collecting his paycheck and stay on his benefits. I can't remember if it was in a movie, an urban legend, or a "news of the weird." But the story is clear in my mind.
ReplyDeleteI like the end, the woman now starting from scratch. There's a story behind the story here. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that a woman saves the day here?
ReplyDeleteMost woman are manipulative and have different motives.......
But then again what would I know....
I'm just a male........and a dumb one at that!
This is too often true. What a story, told so concisely.
ReplyDeleteDeath CAN come swiftly... personally, I want to see it coming and be prepared. I guess I'm in the minority. Oh well, wouldn't be the first time. ;)
ReplyDeleteMy mom died suddenly at 44 and it left a path of family destruction. Great message Tami!
ReplyDeleteDeath is so unpredictable but life goes on, doesn't it? Cool story!
ReplyDeletedamn those taxes!
ReplyDeleteGautami, seriously, how could you do that to me?!?! I was reading merrily along, wondering what was going to be lost to taxes and bam! He's dead, and she has to go through the same boredom as he did? Total shocker of an ending.
ReplyDeleteoh man. thats tough.
ReplyDeleteI like this one because I can picture it very clearly as if it were some people I knew years ago. It's a great "snapshot".
ReplyDeleteSEE YOU NEXT THURSDAY!