Jacqueline Jules

Alone in the house, late at night,
the toilet flushes with a whistle,
followed by a squealing sound,
like tires skidding on black ice. 

Is it urgent? Worth the extra price
of an after-hours plumber?

Alone in the house, late at night,
there is no one to ask except Google,
who thinks I can wait till morning.
 
What did widows do before the internet?
 
Without a 24-hour source to consult,
like warm arms inviting me back to bed.

Jacqueline Jules is the author of Manna in the Morning (Kelsay Books, 2021), Itzhak Perlman's Broken String, winner of the 2016 Helen Kay Chapbook Prize from Evening Street Press, and Smoke at the Pentagon: Poems to Remember (Bushel & Peck, 2023). Her poetry has appeared in over 100 publications.