If the answer is to be found in a voicemail greeting
Then the answer is brief, unapologetic—
It cuts in and out of static
And it isn’t here right now.
But it will be soon.
And it will do its best to contact you.
If the answer is to be found in a marriage invitation
Then the answer is overtly sentimental, thick like cardboard—
And it gives you a tissue—so presumptuous.
It thinks you’ll cry when you know the answer
But you just say to yourself, “hmm.”
And then place bets on how long you think the answer will last
If the answer is to be found in a political speech
Then the answer won’t make much sense
It’ll use vague language and skew statistics in its favor
The answer’s imagery is intense
But you know who is behind the answer
It’s those multi-million dollar corporations
They leave the answer empty.
If the answer is to be found in a forwarded email
From that woman you barely know
But who strives so hard to be that crazy, unique, free-spirit
Who only watches movies with subtitles
Who can name all six of the essential amino acids
Who probably read Kerouac once.
But only half understood it—
Which is more than you can say for yourself.
Her kids are at school
Her husband at work
Sitting in the company of her computer’s blue glow
Then you will have to pass the answer on to at least ten other people
Otherwise, you’ll have bad luck.
And who needs more of that?
You have enough of that.
But you delete the answer anyway.
If the answer is to be found in TV Guide
Then the answer is likely to star Deborah Messing
And that weasely guy—not Will. The other guy.
Is it Will?
And the guy from the long distance commercials
Who, for whatever reason, you want to call Wayne Knight.
Is that even his name?
He’ll have a tertiary role
In the answer.
But if the answer is to be found within—
As so many dead old white men have postulated
—Then it will be pumped through your veins
By your heart.
Reaching crevices that even make you a little uneasy
Through that vein in your forehead when you frown
The bits of dead skin that hang off your cuticles
The acne from high school that never went away
The under-curves of your ears
Which feel so unlike anything you’ve ever touched.
The answer forms those blemishes, those curves.