THE TELEGRAM

She squirmed on the couch,
   A faraway look,
   A telegram in her hand.
Wondering the words,
   The wires had brought,
   Were euphoric, or simply sad.
Her parents old, in the valley,
   Her sibling sailed in the bay,
Her lover, the soldier
   In the war,
   Her thoughts going astray.
Her pulses sped,
   Ol' fashioned way
   The sleepless cable ran,
The metallic clicks,
   Could end all woes, or
   Hopes could come undone.
She slowly toured, through the line,
   No heartbreak, no sad demise.
As thousand miles away, Atlantic
   Wired words, otherwise.
                                           -dp