Dallas County Phone Calls

by Daniel G. Snethen

I knew a Native gal in the Dallas jail

who called me, her Dad.

Apparently, I was

the only father-figure

she’d ever had.

I put money on her books

so we could have our

weekly phone calls

and so she could

call her mother too.

One young black woman,

a fellow inmate of my friend,

was lonely and apparently

had no one to talk to

on the outside of prison.

Amber gave her my number,

and before I knew it,

I was talking to some young

African American woman

from inside the Dallas County Jail.

She thought I was nice

and funny too.

Wanted me to check

her status on Facebook.

I think she thought

perhaps we could hook up

once she left County.

I checked her out,

half my age,

and a booty that’d make

Sir Mix-a-Lot’s

anaconda smile.

How the hell was I

going to hook up with her,

there’s a thousand miles

separating Dallas, Texas

and Dallas, South Dakota.

Daniel G. Snethen is an educator, naturalist, moviemaker, poet, and short story writer from South Dakota. He teaches on the Pine Ridge Reservation at Little Wound High School in the heart of Indian Country. His best friend is his three-legged dog, Knightly, who is a cancer survivor.

Cynthia Fawcett has been writing for fun or money since she was able to hold a pen. A Jersey Girl at heart, she got her journalism degree at Marquette University in Milwaukee and now writes mostly technical articles about hydraulics and an occasional short story or poem on any other subject.