Well, it would be the same hubris
to say I heard the call
but failed to answer
as to say
that only I was called

as if the calling
were a voice I could refuse,
as if, on hearing it,
there could still be anything else
I might prefer to do

as if there were a me
with any purpose or existence
beside the magnitude
of what I’d understand myself to be,
what I’d embody
in answering the call.

©Wendy Mulhern
November 17, 2020