Thoughts After Telephone Call

December 28, 1996

You telephoned me from Buffalo
three days after Christmas

asked about my holidays
and the weather in California

I looked out the window
at a small lake

and started to complain
of excessive rain and cold

but you cut me off
with “California winters are nothing

You valley-ites never have
to shovel snow”

Of course you are correct
in that one sense

but you don't realize
how hard a California night can be in winter—

the leftover day must be dealt with
it can't be stored in the fridge

and the smell of disappointment lingers
longer than the salmon patties I fried tonight

Notes

McDaniel, Wilma. (2001) Borrowed Coats. Hanging Loose Press, Brooklyn, New York.
Courtesy University of California, Merced Library. Copyright owned by the Regents of the University of California.