after ma bell there was the hunchback

by Philip Venzke

Quasimodo dials the number again and hears the steady buzz of a busy signal.  He is certain that Desdemona is in her tower.  The phone continues to ring as he races off.  He finds a phone cord wound around her neck.  The plastic handle dangles by her side.  He unwinds the cord and hears his own voice:  “Why can’t you hear me?”  He flings the phone out of the tower and embraces her hand as he melts into a hunch.  As he dies, the flattened phone rings.  It glows on the wet grass like an irradiated bell.

*Originally published at The Argyle Literary Magazine.

Photo of Philip Venzke

BIO: Philip Venzke grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin.  His poetry is widely published in magazines throughout the U.S. and Europe.  His chapbook “Chant to Save the World” was a winner of The James Tate International 2021 Poetry Prize (published July 2022 by SurVision Books, Ireland).  His poems also appear in “Contemporary Surrealist and Magical Realist Poetry (an International Anthology)” edited by Jonas Zdanys, Lamar University Press, 2022.  His second chapbook “Rules to Change the World” was published by Finishing Line Press in November 2023.  His third chapbook "The Chronicles of Little Zero" was published in August 2024 by Alien Buddha Press.  His fourth chapbook "Song of the Empty Hand" is anticipated to be published in April 2025 by Anxiety Press.  And his fifth chapbook "Abandoned Barn" is anticipated to be published by Kelsay Books in June 2025.