Dropped Call

Abstract

Dropped Call* Ebony E. Chinn (bio) You give a diatribe about immigrationlike our relationship is the exception.I begin to lose the signaland I decide not to call you back.You leave a message.An attempt to seal a gapa missed call sought to fill.You talk about Ted Kennedybeing a no good playboylike he’s the one who’s done me wrong.I lose a signal while searchingfor food near Brown’s campus.I tell you this to ease the abandonment.I know that’s not what you wanted.I write now, sometimes about you.I don’t tell you that I’m not eagerto move towards a strong signal.My phone carrier is a scapegoat,it knows the truth.I hang up pretendingI’ll call you back. [End Page 581] Ebony E. Chinn EBONY E. CHINN, a native of New Jersey, studied anthropology and African American studies at Temple University, where she was a McNair scholar. She is a Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop Fellow, an assistant editor for BrickHouse Books, a poetry assistant editor for Drunken Boat, and a fiction editor for The Missing Slate. Footnotes * after McKendy Fils-Aimé Copyright © 2016 Johns Hopkins University Press