Anthony Hanible

1800 Help

The phone sits heavy

Like a truth I haven’t said aloud

Its numbers glowing

Soft as a lighthouse

For ships that forgot

How to turn home

I trace the keypad

The way some people trace scars

Slow

Remembering

Trying to decide

Which stories are worth reopening

On the other end

I imagine a voice

Made of warm light

Someone who doesn’t know my name

But somehow knows

The shape of my silence

I don’t dial

Not yet

I just hold the phone

Like a lifeline braided

From breath and possibility

A reminder that reaching out

Is still a door

I haven’t closed

And maybe one day

I’ll press the numbers

Not because I’m breaking

But because even the strongest walls

Need a place

To lean