WDC 13th Birthday Poetry Contest Entries

A Single Phone Call

A Single Phone Call

A single phone call
Brought them all
To their parents’
Place, lovingly called
This side of Paradise.

Dad fell in the foyer
A stroke followed.
Mom called the neighbors
He was rushed
To the hospital.

He smiled at them
Standing by his side
Despite the machine
That helped him breathe
Before they took him in.
His kids wondered
While tears rained
Where did the years
Go? All the fun and all
The laughter?

They sat outside
Absorbing the shock
Till the doctor said
He was doing fine.
They sighed in relief,
Thanked the good Lord.

This one jolt
Decided their future.
Vowed to find jobs
in their home town,
So they could take
Care of their parents
In their own home,
Where they love it most.

Lines: 34
Prompt words: call, side, machine.