angel phone call

at the pay phone 
there's a number written
above the keypad in sharpie.
beside it reads, "call 
for any angel" & so i do.
i am at a telephone booth
in the middle of a galaxy 
of broken beer bottles 
& headlines. all around
people are walking their cars
on leashes & i think
"i have to talk to god 
about this." catholcism taught me
to be always a messenger.
passing along a tongue
wrapped in tin foil. the phone
rings & rings until the moon 
goes rancid. spills melon water
all over the street. a stray dog
turns into a shopping cart.
inside the booth i picture
the angel arriving
& scrawling his number quickly 
before moving onto the next haunting.
maybe on his day off. maybe watching
a television show where angels
have to be mortal for a day.
shaking his head he thinks
"this could never be me." i rehearse
how i will answer. "yes angel,
this is robin & i am quickly 
losing." then he'll ask me
follow-up questions. the longer
i wait the more the ringing 
starts to sound like zippers 
or church bells. the reciever itself
pastas into a macaroni elbow. 
i have never been so hungry.
help me, help me please i think
as the telephone booth shivers.
it is not winter but also not
any other season. i have a place
to remember to be. buses are filled
with sardines. every door is a lid.
i speak between chimes. i say,
"it is already morning," when i meant
"i will give up soon." everyone 
should probably give up more 
than we do. humans value persistence
& trying hard too much.
i'm ready, angel, to just
become a walking man. someone
who everyone passes & thinks
"i have seen him before." alright.
i keep thinking "alright."
but i can't let go. there this thought
"if i just wait one second more
everything will come together
& he will answer." he does not.
the city braids street lamps.
you are probably talking
to your plants. i regret everything
& nothing about my architecture.
i hold the phone away from me.
give it three more chances.
nothing. hang up. find a duck feather
at my feet. we are each other's 
evidence. outside 
the city is burning blue.