Waiting to be Led

It is the phone that dehumanizes.
Through distance.
The one who answers.
Their lack of empathy
The voice message menu.
The voice recognition.
The wanting to talk to a human.
To not be delayed.
To feel that you are important enough to answer.
That you are not a number.
That your records can be reviewed.
That a choice will be made.

Push option #2, then option #4.
Wait for it.
Wait for it.
Listen to the music.
Dream a little.
Try and drift.
Your time is a gift.
A recorded voice tells you how much you mean to it.
How much your time matters.
The music comes again.
The loop is made.

A human answers.
You are speaking to the night message service at noon.
The voice asks you what number you called.
You tell it.
It says for you to repeat the process.
To wait ten minutes.
To try again.

But your time does not matter.
One medical record in an overcrowded world.
Inside a medical system that is truly broken.
Your tests are not being read.
They are waiting inside an inbox.
Waiting to be led.
Ready to be humanized.
Ready to not despise the process.