Last Call
“The removal of the payphone, located at 745 7th Ave., does mark the end of an era of coin-operated communication in New York City.”
~ Gothamist.com, May 23, 2022
I’d hardly more than glanced at the news
of the last pay phone in New York City
being carted off to a museum, when,
old softie that I am, my heart sank
like a quarter to the bottom of a coin chute.
And no sooner did it find itself down there
in that dark and dispiriting place
than someone outside started pressing the keys
on the dial pad, one at a time, and then,
allowing for a pause, began speaking,
their fingertips playing lightly upon
the steel of the armored cord as they leaned
their body against the enclosure
and their voice now and then falling silent, until
whoever might’ve been out there
brought the handset down on the cradle
with a thudding finality, turned on their heel
and strode away into the past.
First published in The Nassau Review, 2023.
