Some Interrupted Lines to Sheilah
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Once you were so far away
Nothing was so far
On the edge of space you lay
Like an outer star
Even your most tender word
In that week we met
Was a station dimly heard
On a short-wave set
Was a lost imperilled boat
Sending far alarms
Oh, so infinitely remote
Even in my arms
Now you are so near, so near
That no furth’rest wing
Takes you where I cannot hear
Your faint whispering
Hear the clamor of your hands
Thunder of your eyes
Your most far-sent wish commands
Me to Paradise—
—There! You’ve phoned—ten minutes late
Driving me insane:
Why'd you make a down-town date?
I'm stood up again!
Published in Graham, Sheilah. Beloved Infidel book (1958).
Not illustrated.