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ISSUE NO. 8

March 2025

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Poetry

Calls Behind Concrete Walls

By

Leslie

Leslie writes from Ravenhall Correctional Centre in Victoria.

Quino Al on Unsplash

Lights on, doors slam, go
running to the phone

Dial the number hit the hash,
and wonder if they're home

Spend the first minute saying
hello, fight to say a word

Tell them that you love them
and hope that you are heard

The phone gets passed around
so everyone gets a go

To tell you what is going on and
things that you should know

Twelve minutes pass much too fast,
soon you hear the beep

To tell you that time has ran out,
the family begin to weep

Calls behind the concrete walls
are never easy to make

Speaking to those you love whose
hands you cannot take

Your heart breaks as you hear
their pain going down the line

Knowing that you cannot help to
make everything fine

So if you have one you love in
jail and away from you

Just know that there is something
small that you can do

To show them that you love them
and tell them that you care

Even though they are far away, sometimes who knows where

Remember that a single call can
really change a day

And fill a saddened heart,
chase their blues away

So if you get a call from
someone far apart

Let them always know that
they are in your heart

Lights on, doors slam, go
running to the phone

Dial the number hit the hash,
and wonder if they're home

Spend the first minute saying
hello, fight to say a word

Tell them that you love them
and hope that you are heard

The phone gets passed around
so everyone gets a go

To tell you what is going on and
things that you should know

Twelve minutes pass much too fast,
soon you hear the beep

To tell you that time has ran out,
the family begin to weep

Calls behind the concrete walls
are never easy to make

Speaking to those you love whose
hands you cannot take

Your heart breaks as you hear
their pain going down the line

Knowing that you cannot help to
make everything fine

So if you have one you love in
jail and away from you

Just know that there is something
small that you can do

To show them that you love them
and tell them that you care

Even though they are far away, sometimes who knows where

Remember that a single call can
really change a day

And fill a saddened heart,
chase their blues away

So if you get a call from
someone far apart

Let them always know that
they are in your heart

This
piece
was originally printed in the
March 2025
edition of About Time.

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