Please stay on the line ─
waiting, waiting, waiting
in line, in lines, on-the-line
while ...
Muzak, playing rings around
and around; a merry-go-round
of instrumental oblivion

twenty minutes times infinity
life in a bottle floating on an ocean
of numbers, rings, dial tones, silence
disembodied voices giving quarterback signals
that misdirect a defense
throwing a yellow flag of neurosis
an empty, time out, receding stare

-cec