What the Telegraph Carried

The telegraph still runs through town though nobody sends a wire

wires humming with a message

nobody can acquire

Bone put her ear near the pole and went stiff all over

said "something's still trying to finish a sentence

from a long time ago"

(dot-dot) — I'm

— (dash)

— here

— (dot)

— still

— (dash-dot) — here

— he sent a warning nobody picked up he

sent it again,

and again,

and again

the wire still carries what the town wouldn't carry he's still sending

it,

still sending it,

still sending it

I asked the operator's widow what he tapped out that night

shed said he never finished,

said he dropped mid-line,

lost the light

Bone said that's exactly what it feels like from her end too

— a sentence

that never got to land (dot-dot)

— I'm

— (dash)

— here

— (dot)

— still

— (dash-dot) — here — he sent a warning nobody picked up

he sent it again,

and again, and again the wire still carries what the town wouldn't

carry he's still sending it,

still sending it,

still sending it (dot-dot-dash) (dot-dash-dot)