Miss Alignment by Thomas Lipschultz 8/6/99 All her life she orbitted the sun the same as us Forty years the hopes and fears a normal person's view On the phone last night it seemed an extra sort of fuss Speaking as we often do and yet it seemed askew Each response she gave to me Was something on her mind? Suddenly I realized the conversation fault All the words she spoke to me she spoke on a delay Seconds from the question asked until my words were caught The telephone or so I blamed -- that's all that I could say Days passed by the time lag grew in exponential ways Then I knew -- to God-knows-where -- she'd slowly slipped away