when you find yourself scrolling
familiar and unfamiliar
faces
people you remember
and don’t—
there are those [of]
memories past
whose beings you grasp,
just out of reach,
always yet always
one call
away
i have not been able to delete them
these ten numbers relating
to these names
of teachers
of friends
of family members
maybe i fear the permanent erasure
that that might be it
forever
because they are still here
still here in my phone
names attached to memories
attached to spirits attached to voices
that i worry will tease me
like a dial tone
in my heart they are not
flat lines
in my dreams
they come to visit me
so while i walk
the earth they graced
i’ll keep them in my phone
where they remain
here to stay