from sounding lines [chamorro standard time: UTC +10:00]

~

remember just
the time

-table mom made
and taped

to the fridge when it
is two pm here

it is eight am the next
day there—

mom always talking story
on the phone—

long distance
counting

minutes when it
is eleven am there

it is five pm the day
before here

her voice
transoceanic

cables
pull sounding lines

between island
and continent

when it is six pm here
it is twelve pm

the next day there—
she shows [us]

how to dial
"one six seven one

and the number"—
rotary vocal cords

pulse when
it is one am here

it is seven pm the next
day passes

into years—
fewer and fewer

calls lost
connections

avian silence—i
want to remember

when [we] once
belonged—