Skip to main content

South Fork Poetry: ‘Working the Crisis Hotline’

Wed, 04/06/2022 - 16:34

Down by the river
in cramped quarters, 
telephones ring nonstop.  
Young people, women 

mostly, quickly pick up.
Voices cry out: Help me!  
I'm too high. Someone 
followed me. And . . . 

then he raped me.
This new recruit, 
sensitive as bruised skin,
calmly tries on comfort:

Stay cool. Talk to me. 
Breathe, just breathe, she says.
All night long, she cares and 
consoles, her heart

racing, as perspiration
blurs worn referral cards.
During a brief respite, 
she glances out a dark window, 

watches the roiling water, 
imagines her body 
floating downstream.
At shift's end she exits, running . . . running.


Dianne Moritz is a children's book author who lives in North Sea. 


Your support for The East Hampton Star helps us deliver the news, arts, and community information you need. Whether you are an online subscriber, get the paper in the mail, delivered to your door in Manhattan, or are just passing through, every reader counts. We value you for being part of The Star family.

Your subscription to The Star does more than get you great arts, news, sports, and outdoors stories. It makes everything we do possible.