Footfalls In My Mind
“Ring phone.”—-RING.
“One more time.”
“Come on”—- “Answer,
Crisis line.”
“Hello, —- thank God!
I’m glad you’re there.
You really gave me
quite a scare.”
“Remember me —-?”
“From yesterday?”
“I have to talk
some more today.”
“I feel I’m running
out of time.
I hear his footfalls
in my mind.”
“I don’t go out.
I cannot eat.
At night, I scream
myself to sleep.”
“I can’t sleep now,
though I’m in bed.
I hear his footfalls
in my head.”
“I know you think
he doesn’t exist.
But, I know different.
I’ve felt his fist.”
“He’ll come bustin
thru the door,
cuss me out an
call me a ‘whore’.”
“He’ll walk over
and slap my face.
Then, kick me all
around the place.”
“He’ll tie me nude
into a chair.
Then, run his fingers
thru my hair.”
“If I yell,
or act upset,
he’ll burn me with
a cigarette.”
“What happens next,
I can’t talk about.
But, —- I know
a sure way out.”
“I have a gun
with me in bed.
I’m going to shoot
him in the head.”
“Don’t say what
I shouldn’t do.
You don’t know
what I’ve been through.”
“Wait!! —-Listen,
I think he’s near.
I hear his footfalls
in my ears.”
“Hello, —- Hello.
“Are you still there?”
Nothing but, silence
in the air.
BANG!!
“Hello again. —-
Yeah, —- it’s me.
I said it would work.
Now, you can see.”
“’It’s the police’,
I think he said,
before I shot him
in the head.”
“Now, at last,
I can be free.
He’ll no longer
bother me.”
“I shot him good.
I know he’s dead.
But,? —- I hear
his footfalls in my head.”
BANG!!
“Hello!!, —- Hello!!
Are you still there?”
Only silence
in the air. ———————–R. W. Johnson—–(2011)