Missed
The caseworker said you weren’t
at school when she came
to pick you up
so she called me
fifty miles away
a one hour commute
now neither of us know where you are.
what set you off this time?
an emotional exchange with your boyfriend?
aches and pains bad hair day?
I call home
I leave messages
I check my voice mail
and hear the echo of my voice
attempting to bridge those fifty miles
between the answering machine
and me.