When no one answers

sometimes, nobody picks up, and you listen to their voicemail message just to hear a comforting voice
but you don't leave a message
you call again, expecting an apology for not picking earlier, but it's the familiar tone and the familiar message
instead, that pierces through the hum of laptop fans and speeding cars
in that moment, a voice isn't enough
you want the inflections, changing pitches, vocabulary mannerisms, gestures, stories, what they're doing
where they're going, what have they been up to, relationships
and when instructions are over, and you hear the beep
you breathe a sigh of defeat
and hang up