Poem-A-Day: Sally Van Doren, Call Us

	September 4, 2012 Today's poem is copyright © 2012 by Sally Van Doren. Used with permission of the author. More from this author Related Poems April by Sally Van Doren Her Name was Name by Matt Hart How I Changed My Name, Felice by Felix Stefanile Love Calls Us to the Things of This World by Richard Wilbur You can unsubscribe from our Poem-A-Day emails at at anytime—either completely, or until next April. Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane Suite 901 New York, NY 10038 212-274-0343 academy@poets.org		Call Us by Sally Van Doren Let's use our nicknames When we apply for this next job Even though it's past our bedtime And our current paycheck Can't shut up the muse Who mewls at the dinner table Begging for a crust of bread To sate the nightly terrors. For they come, don't they, Leaving empty spaces numbers Are supposed to fill. Buddy And Chip loaded their coffers Before the hard freeze. The ice burns our tongues As we swallow prosperity One parched drop at a time. Share Digg StumbleUpon Facebook E-mail to Friend