A long time ago
the phones of the day
were party lines
many people along the way
Everyone knew what was going on
listening to people’s issues
tying up the phones
with many tears and tissues
Happiness and cheer
spread to all who would hear
community shared all
the party line was the ear
The community was like a family
in times good and bad
helping one another
whether happy or sad
Party lines are gone
people still helping today
kindness and communication
are still the order of the day
copyright 2017 Debbie Pierce
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Piper's Adventures 
Your poems have nice messages. Well, at 78 I’m old enough to remember party lines. You had to pay extra for a private line. I think we had a two party line back in Minneapolis, where I lived until age nine. I visited my cousins in Thief River Falls (they were a little older than me and liked to tease me) and the family had a four party line. You know small towns, a hotbed of gossip, but like you said basically warm hearted and supportive. You’d always wonder who was listening in. Robert in Tucson.
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, party lines always were a source of all kinds of information – true and whatever sounded good. Thanks for reading.
I remember when and you had better be careful what you’d say.
Party lines were always a source of information. Many people created a variety of tall tales. Thanks for reading.
We didn’t have a phone in my mom’s house until after I left home. I walked to a school ballpark to use a pay phone or bothered this very nice old lady up the street to use her phone. We didn’t have party lines, but we always had someone standing around listening. Great words.
Thank you for your kind words. There was such a sense of community back in those days. My days of party lines were from my grandmother’s house. She would listen on the phone for hours. It was fun to observe. Thanks for reading.