Someone who used to have someone

There used to be someone
to whom I could say do you
love me and be sure that the
answer would always be yes;
There used to be someone to
whom I could telephone and
be sure when the operator
said do you accept the charges
the answer would always be yes;
but now there is no one to ask
no one to telephone from the
strangeness of the cities in the
lateness of nights now there
is no one always now no one
no someone never at all

Can you imagine what it is
like to live in a world where
there is no one now always no
no one and never some someone
to ask do you love me
and be sure that the answer would always be yes?
I live in a world where only billboards are
always there twenty feet tall
and they circle the city
They coax and caress me
They heat me and cool me
They promise and plead me
With color and comfort:
You can get to sleep with me
Tonight (the me being ovaltine)
but who wants to get to sleep
with a cup of ovaltine what
kind of sleep is that for someone
who used to have someone
to ask do you love me and
be sure the answer would always be yes?

~Marriam Waddington