Today I was in the bathroom,
reading the NYTimes on my phone,
and it lit up as Hoboken, NJ
and I knew I’d better grab the call
quick or I’d be waiting ten minutes
and more on my own answering service.
I had them text me the number. When
I dialed the patient back the dog
started barking senselessly and I had to
keep hissing no, no, no. . .while answering
questions about breast feeding, and oh
I’d had to take calls then too,
when trying to nurse my own failing-to-thrive
daughter while talking to patients with
toothaches and runny noses, and now
I’ll always take their calls, even if
I’m retching over a sink or bent
at the waist with pain, but please
leave me alone after midnight, or in the
shower, on a plane, on an eight lane
highway, walking in a thunderstorm,
with a sick animal, in the dental chair,
at my mother’s grave.
