Crossed Wires in Melbourne
Posted on by Debbie

Crossed Wires

Crossed Wires

Are crossed wires a symbol of our busy lives?

Where saying one thing

Can mean something entirely different.

We need to slow down,

Listen, laugh and appreciate our differences.

Crossed wires.

Squares and lines

Shaping our lives.

 

Living in a small country town,

A city break is invigorating.

More people in the tram than in your whole town.

Unknown faces staring down at their phones.

A break from being known, from routine,

From paddocks and big skies

To views of cityscapes,

The sky reflected in the grids

Towering above.

*

Crossed Wires in Melbourne
Crossed Wires in Melbourne

Writing Prompt

For this week’s writing prompt from Lorna, with the prompt of Crossed Wires, I decided to update an older post.  This was a poem I wrote for a writing challenge earlier last year and I used this same picture in the post – it fits beautifully.

It’s funny because the poem was written about a break from normal routine, a trip to Melbourne in fact, and I’ve just returned from a  similar break. It’s great having my sister living there so I can visit her and get some inspiration.

I researched what the term Crossed Wires actually means and enjoyed adding some suitable words to my original poem The Break.

“Crossed wires” can describe either of these situations:

1. when people who are supposedly having a conversation with each other are actually talking about completely different things

2. when a dialogue gets out of sync because people are not listening to each other – in a written dialogue this is usually because someone has posted twice before reading a reply.

The expression derives from ye olden days of analogue telephones. Sometimes when speaking on the phone in the 60s or 70s it was possible to hear another conversation on the same line. You might also pick up the phone and find that instead of a dial tone you could hear a conversation. This situation was called “crossed wires“.

Thanks Lorna for another great writing prompt. I’m really enjoying stretching my brain and doing something different.

You can see my week by week attempts here:

Week #5  Puzzling through – Life 10 things that puzzle me

Week #4 – People watching and celeb spotting

Week #3 resulted in one of my all time favourite posts –  Far away from home as she knew it  

Week #1 was the first writing and photo challenge, A sepia toned fall memory and I wrote a short creative piece –  A New World Order as Autumn takes over

Please let me know what you think of my response to this prompt.  I always enjoy hearing from you and appreciate you joining the conversation.

Deb xx

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11 Replies to “Crossed Wires”

  3. ‘I’ve decided to get one. Do you want one too?’, he asks excitedly.

    ‘Sure, why not’, I reply without hesitation, although slightly bemused that he’s so excited about a cup of tea.

    ‘Cool. I’ll be back soon’. Off he rushes, the screen door slamming behind him.

    I’m a little perplexed. The kitchen isn’t outside and I didn’t need a cuppa that urgently that he had to rush off like that. Maybe he’s gone to get one from the café across the road I think, trying to find an explanation for his sudden departure.

    After an hour, I begin to get seriously worried. Where are you? I text.

    Almost home, he sends back.

    I wish I hadn’t turned off Find my Friends. I’d really like to check where he is right now.

    Ten minutes later he walks through the door, carrying a shopping bag full of boxes. Not a cup of tea in sight.

    I’m beyond confused. ‘I thought you were getting a cup of tea?’

    ‘What?’ Now he’s confused. ‘No, I told you I found a good deal on that lens I’ve had my eye on for ages. I asked if you wanted one too, and you said yes. I thought it was a bit odd that you were so enthusiastic. But it was a really good deal. Look!’

    He doesn’t show me the price – he never does that – but he shows me all the things I can do with the new lens.

    I let his demonstration waft over me as I wonder if I seriously hadn’t heard him talk about the lens, or if he only thought he’d mentioned it to me.

    What was my sister just saying about crossed wires?

    ******
    Here’s my response to the prompt!

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