Answering Machine

• She leaves messages
• on my answering machine,
• asks for my help,
• tells me things
• I’d rather not know:
• her microwave clock
• is stuck on 12:00,
• the computer’s screwing up,
• there’s a book she can’t find,
• at 38 her cousin Crystal
• has died of cancer.
• You can’t do this! I want to tell her.
• We’re divorced. It’s not fair. Instead,
• I call her back, explain the procedure
• to reset the clock, tell her
• I’ll look for the book,
• how bad I feel about Crystal.
• And after I walk her through Norton
• Utilities, defragment the hard disk,
• and we’re saying goodbye,
• she asks how I’m doing, and
• I tell her okay, I’m doing okay.

Terry Hertzler is a Vietnam vet who makes his home in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he works as a writer, editor, and teacher. He is the author of two books of poetry and short fiction: The Way of the Snake and Second Skin. His poetry and short stories have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies and his work has also been produced on stage and for radio and television. “Answering Machine” is from his collection Second Skin, published by Caernarvon Press. It is reprinted by permission.