"Dusting the Phone" was written by contemporary Scottish poet Jackie Kay and appears in her 1993 collection Other Lovers. As the poem's speaker waits by the phone, desperate to hear from a lover, they can't help but imagine "the worst." The speaker fantasizes nervously about their future with their beloved, alternating between visions of catastrophe and marriage, and dotes on the phone as though it were a distinguished guest. With humor and choppy, anxious language, the poem playfully captures the doubt and uncertainty of new love.

• Read the full text of “Dusting the Phone”

• “Dusting the Phone” Summary

• “Dusting the Phone” Themes

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    The Uncertainty and Anxiety of New Love

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-22

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Dusting the Phone”

  • Lines 1-6

    I am spending ...
    ... tell? Nobody knows.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-9

    The future is ...
    ... sheets. Forget tomorrow,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-12

    You say, don't ...
    ... together, re-read them.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-15

    This very second ...
    ... for your call.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-18

    Infuriatingly, it sends ...
    ... lonely cotton sheets.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 19-22

    I am trapped ...
    ... don't know what.

    

    

    

    

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• “Dusting the Phone” Symbols

  • 

    Lonely Cotton Sheets

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 17-18: “Your voice / disappears into my lonely cotton sheets.”

• “Dusting the Phone” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “idea, and,” “love, I”
    • Line 4: “disaster. Sirens.”
    • Line 5: “disaster. Sirens.”
    • Line 6: “tell? Nobody”
    • Line 7: “hand. An”
    • Line 8: “marriage. A,” “house. One”
    • Line 9: “sheets. Forget”
    • Line 10: “say, don't,” “love. I,” “try. It”
    • Line 11: “letter. I”
    • Line 12: “together, re-read”
    • Line 14: “service. I,” “it. I”
    • Line 16: “Infuriatingly, it,” “hoaxes, wrong”
    • Line 17: “worse, calls,” “people. Your”
    • Line 19: “it. I,” “move. I”
    • Line 20: “time. This,” “awful—only”
    • Line 21: “on, damn you, ring,” “me. Or else. What?”

  • Hyperbole

    

    

    

    

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    Where hyperbole appears in the poem:

    • Lines 4-5: “The phone rings heralding some disaster. Sirens. / Or it doesn't ring which also means disaster. Sirens.”
    • Line 11: “I assault the postman for a letter.”
    • Line 13: “This very second I am waiting on the phone.”
    • Lines 19-20: “I am trapped in it. I can't move. I want you. / All the time.”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “spending my time imagining the worst that could happen.”
    • Line 3: “spending my time going over the best that has been happening.”
    • Lines 4-5: “The phone rings heralding some disaster. Sirens. / Or it doesn't ring which also means disaster. Sirens.”
    • Lines 7-8: “a long gloved hand. An empty cup. / A marriage. A full house.”
    • Line 10: “I try.”
    • Line 11: “I assault the postman for a letter. I look for flowers.”
    • Line 12: “I go over and over our times together,”
    • Line 14: “I polish it. I dress for it.”
    • Line 15: “I'll give it extra in return for your call.”
    • Line 19: “I am trapped in it. I can't move. I want you.”
    • Line 21: “What?”
    • Line 22: “what.”

  • Apostrophe

    

    

    

    

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    Where apostrophe appears in the poem:

    • Line 19: “I want you.”
    • Line 21: “Come on, damn you, ring me. Or else.”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-9: “The future is a long gloved hand. An empty cup. / A marriage. A full house. One night per week / in stranger's white sheets.”
    • Lines 13-18: “This very second I am waiting on the phone. / Silver service. I polish it. I dress for it. / I'll give it extra in return for your call. / Infuriatingly, it sends me hoaxes, wrong numbers; / or worse, calls from boring people. Your voice / disappears into my lonely cotton sheets.”

• “Dusting the Phone” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Heralding
  • Sirens
  • Silver Service
  • Waiting
  • Hoaxes
  • (Location in poem: Line 4: “The phone rings heralding some disaster.”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Dusting the Phone”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Dusting the Phone” Speaker

• “Dusting the Phone” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Dusting the Phone”

• More “Dusting the Phone” Resources

  • External Resources

    • About Jackie Kay — Learn more about Kay's life and listen to the poet read some of her work aloud.

    • Kay as Scotland's Makar — Read an interview in which Kay discusses what it means to serve as Scotland's Makar (Poet Laureate).

    • Jackie Kay Out Loud — Watch Kay a video of Kay reading six of her poems.

    • Kay in Conversation — Check out a conversation between the poet and Nicola Sturgeon, the current First Minister of Scotland.  

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Jackie Kay

    • Darling

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