I call my house, it's empty
and my own voice responds,
painfully hesitant, saying I'm
unavailable.  I can hear
gaps in the apology, the whirring
tape, a stammer, a repetition,
an indrawn breath, then finally
and blessedly, the beep.

And I had redone that three times,
the first inaudible, the second
grammatically incorrect, and then
this one.  I listen to the tape
recording silence, an expectant
hum, and I hang up.

If it was all that hard
just to express absence,
then how can I begin
to tell you that I'm here?


From Life List  (Resource Publications, August, 2021)).
Used here with permission.