lend me your ear

we talked
about him for an hour.
I put
him on speaker phone
and folded laundry,
I washed
the dishes.
did some bills.
uh huh, I offered
every now and then,
speaking loudly
into the phone across
the room.
on and on he went.
he needed
just an ear
to talk to. any ear.
his work,
his girlfriends, his
divorce. sports.
I've heard it all before,
a dozen times at
least. bored silly
with his rambling,
I let him go on.
for what are friends for.