our phone number - four digits,
used to be three
when i was too young
to think about it
you could dial out of state
with help from the operator.
a little guy, Heinie Kensel,
was the village Morse code operator.
he rode a bicycle to work,
and repaired bikes at home on Adams Ave.,
in a part of town called Oklahoma;
probably cause it was out west of town.
Heinie worked at the train depot.
i'd been there, only for looking around.
a large beamed wooden building
as old as the railroad.
i'm sure someone told me
to get out of there.
it was no place for a kid.
as trains would whizz by.
don't know what messages
were sent and received by code.
could have been to send flowers.
i know it was long distance.
now, even today
the whole set up
remains a long,
long distance.
