Phone sex

Phone sex! Are you fucking kidding?
How would we get off on sound?
I’m not free to splurt your bidding
All my family are around
God knows where these words are heading
Earth is small and mean and round

I’m not free to splurt your bidding
All my family are around
Now an old in-joke is spreading
Now another drink is downed
God knows where these words are heading
Earth is small and mean and round

Now an old in-joke is spreading
Now another drink is downed
Not to hold you would be madding
Not to smell your skin would wound
God knows where these words are heading
Earth is small and mean and round

Not to hold you would be madding
Not to smell your skin would wound
Are you there? What are you reading?
Far away, your voice is drowned
God knows where these words are heading
Earth is small and mean and round


Airini Beautrais is a poet, essayist, fiction writer, and teacher. She wrote a PhD thesis on verse form and narrative and continues to experiment with these things. She lives in Whanganui.