silence is silent -
it sneaks up on you like a deadline
slithers its way out of the drawers in your mind - past the ticking watch your dad gave you
down the scrape of the office chair across your bedroom floor
dances with the tip-tapping keys of your keyboard and it lies,

in weight; bunk-buddies with your earworm that's been casting; their-
show-stopping
rendition of
a
latest song
-  then the real thing shows up and makes everything dead quiet.

numb, dumb thump hum thumbing in my ear -
crickets
keys
cars
the march of a duvet
smothering my brain

barely heard the light go off as I pondered the ink lake above me dould not even remember, when it all went so
silent