When the Call Came 1

When the Call Came

When the call came,
my mother had the best friends were over for lunch;
but the husband was already soused,
and the wife never could handle that big damn Cadillac.
So when they offered to drive
my mother said no:
she hated the husband for being soused,
for saying my father never drank that much, he swore,
he never saw him drunk --
he, who was never otherwise --
and she hated the wife's helplessness,
if not exactly the wife.

^^^ <---|---> <|>

	When the Call Came
	When the call came, my mother had the best friends were over for lunch; but the husband was already soused, and the wife never could handle that big damn Cadillac. So when they offered to drive my mother said no: she hated the husband for being soused, for saying my father never drank that much, he swore, he never saw him drunk -- he, who was never otherwise -- and she hated the wife's helplessness, if not exactly the wife.
^^^	<---\|--->	<\|>