IMPOSTER

He stood at the copier,
A line of people out the door,
Hemming and hawing.
He stared at the little map showing the jam,
The history of what had happened,
Where things had gone wrong.
He opened the indicated panel,
No sign of the devastation that had taken place earlier.
The mystery of history.

He heard a few voices
Suggestions of what he might do differently.
Next time.
If there were to be a next time.

Would he lose the job on the first day?
He was a temp, living with her parents,
They’d only been in the state for a week,
Everything was temporary.
He needed this job,
So they could begin.

He collected the big notebook he’d been sent to copy
600 pages, double-sided, 3-hole punched,
The Everest of photocopying.

A secretary came by and offered help.
She read the little map, discovered the jam
Made the copier operational.
Clearly an expert.
She said, Come back later, when it’s not so busy.

Six years went by
Then, one day, he left the company,
His lack of skill with the photocopier,
Having gone undetected.