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It feels so good to get a live person.
Let’s have a conversation
about the weather in Boston or
Bangalore. I want to talk about anything
except the reason for my call. I’m sick of
me and my problems. Let’s talk about you.
Tell me what you see when you look out your window.
Tell me what your hands are doing right now.
Do you know that song by Jim Croce
about lost love and a telephone operator?
Doesn’t this feel a little like that song? Keep
talking, please. I love your accent. Yes, I believe
in God, but I don’t think God created the world, or even
knows we’re here. I think the world is
a sort of dream we’re having, fast asleep
in Heaven. Yes, I’ll hold…
Hi again. I've been thinking, spiritual texts
are the most boring books in the world —
not one of them mentions a bicycle,
or a Ferris wheel, or ice cream or baseball or
sea lions. They just lump them altogether into
the world. But Heaven is here. Heaven is now.
Have you read any books by Jhumpa Lahiri?
She’s wonderful. If this call is being monitored
for training purposes, I’d like to say to all
the trainees: just be yourself. And remember to be
human. And remember to be amazed
at how close to each other we sound
when you consider we’re a world away.

Paul Hostovsky

If you have any comments on this poem, Paul Hostovsky would be pleased to hear them.

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