We had a party line in Wapato in 1972, which meant you didn’t answer the telephone except when it was your ring. Our phone number was GL35902 (don’t ask me how I remember that), and our ringtone was four short notes. Neighbors had other rings that we ignored. Some notes were long and others were short, making for a combination of rings to accommodate several families on the same “phone line.” I wrote this poem at George Washington University after learning Mom had died following surgery. Dad called me at the dormitory and left a message with my roommate, Peter Gormley, who found me on campus and informed me that I needed to call home. The last four rings are me calling home to confirm her passing. The call home from Tokyo was when I was in the Army, and the call from Boston was during a visit to Todd at MIT during Thanksgiving.