When The Operator Listened In

Phone Boxes, remember them?

can you recall those 

lengthy phone conversations 

shortly after we met 

when we were separated  

by land and sea

while you worked in Dublin

with little hope of us meeting

for months

how we would spend hours

each evening dining on love

a vivid imagination with a

hunger no food would satisfy

till the operator stepped in

to remind us we had two minutes

for fond farewells before

the line would go dead

and when you pleaded

in your Liverpool drawl that

you were clean out of change

she took pity and gave us extra

time so we could continue with

our sweet nothings while she 

resumed with her knitting

and her eavesdropping

we were the after supper

entertainment not the usual

drop dead handsome leading actor

or his besotted blonde interest 

memorising and acting out a script

for others my darling

we happened to be

the real deal

Reviews

[William Michael Reeves]

I remember worrying that someone might be listening to calls we were making. Audio voyeurism. I'm not quite old enough to remember the boxes, not even sure if we had them over here. Just operators connecting us. Probably laughing and crying with us. Telephone threesomes. An interesting blast of the past Chris.

[Chris Shaw]

Many thanks Bill for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. Hope all is good with you.

Chris

[JD Major]

I like story poems, and this one took me wayyy back to when I was the bloke who ran out of change, but, on me the operator had no pity haha. Good one :)

[Chris Shaw]

Your conversation couldn’t have appealed to her curiosity. If it had she would have let
you carry on talking so she could listen in :))Ta for checking this one out JD. Much appreciated.

Chris

[JD Major]

Yeah, yeah, ok, so I wasn't as good a sweet talker as your guy was, haha

[Robert Haigh]

How times have changed. I remember the old phone boxes, with button A and button B. We used to have to be armed with a pocketful of old pennies! A wistful and poetic trip down memory lane, Chris.

I don't know if I will ever post any of my poetry efforts here again, but I'll occasionally drop by to read two or three poets here (probably no more than that). Hope you are keeping well, and enjoying life! ~ Robert

[Chris Shaw]

Dear Robert, I was delighted to get a visit from you and for you to share your old memories of the red telephone boxes and button A and B. Hope you are happy in your new poetry home. All the very best.

Chris

[Gee]

Love this. When I first started dating my better half she was in Ayrshire me in Sunny MK. Spent many hours in a phone box talking and planning our future together :)

[Chris Shaw]

Good morning Gee. Pleased this write brought back some happy memories for you. I can see you have had a blitz on my poems in the week I have been away. I thank you very sincerely for that and will soon respond to each visit. Have a great Sunday and all the best to you and yours.

Chris

[Gee]

Hope you had a good break Christine:))
Enjoy Sunday

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Gee. You too :))

[Relic]

Reading this shows me how far we've come with technology. Kids today would never be able to cope if they only had minutes on a phone you had to pay for right there. And what! no texting? lol I imagine romance felt frustrating back then. But I di remember using telephone booths and hearing that ring when the change was dropped in.

Great poem, Chris. :)

[Chris Shaw]

Long distance love. That's the way it was back then or even worse hand written letters which took forever to arrive via post. Yes technology has certainly assisted communication. Many thanks for your visit Tim. You are appreciated.

Chris

[Beccy]

Don't quite recall using phone boxes, but I loved this witty and beautifully penned love poem. The real deal, indeed! :))

Beccy.

[Chris Shaw]

Many thanjs fir stopping by Beccy. Good to see you. Hope all is good with you and yours.

read moreMany thanjs fir stopping by Beccy. Good to see you. Hope all is good with you and yours.

Chris

[AYVID N]

Dear Chris,
Those were the days, when the operator used to be such an important person and could make or break our day. As a kid growing up overseas, I had my share of sweet and sour experiences with them during those calls with my grandparents and relatives. We used to call them, "trunk calls."
Once again, you takes us beautifully to a bygone era and all the emotions felt therein. Your poetry is always a joy to return to. ❤

[Chris Shaw]

Hello DIVYA. Yes, I remember them being called trunk calls. Really appreciate both your visit and your share. Big thank yous.

Chris

[AYVID N]

Have a lovely day :)

[Chris Shaw]

🌹♥️ and you too DIVYA. Very early here for this insomniac :)

[AYVID N]

I know...The UK is around 5 hours behind us. The early hours are becoming precious to me though. So much of thinking happens before the daylight hits :)

[JE Falcon]

An interesting subject, Chris, and a fun viewpoint. Thanks!

[Chris Shaw]

Good to see you Falcon. Many thank yous for your visit. Pleased you enjoyed the read.

Chris

[W. Barrett Munn]

I enjoyed this peek into your memories. We once lived where we had a party line- a shared telephone service with our neighbors. I like your story better.

Winston

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Winston. Yes, you just reminded me about party lines. Trying to make a call and the other party wouldn't get off the bloomin phone. You just brought all that frustration back :)) So appreciate your visit.

Chris

[John the Baptist]

I guess "phone boxes" is UK for what Americans used to call "phone booths." Whatever the name, they are long gone now. This poem describes what it was like to have an intimate conversation in one of those enclosures. I imagine those old time operators did get an earful of hot exchanges. How frustrating it was when you realized you didn't have enough change to continue. I recently saw a public phone in a local park and wondered how a local museum didn't get it first.

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you John for sharing. We still have the odd red phone boxes around. Not used for phones now. More for defibs or book exchanges in the community. Some have even got floral baskets hanging from them.

Chris