All of the sudden

All of the sudden
There is a break in the constant dullness
That has hit us like a flood
That cannot come out of our carpets

The conversations this evening
When looked at as a whole
Form an incomplete weave
Of personal history and idealized futures

When we form a circle
We combine
And become unstable
When there are more people

They have all become silent
And one looks up from it
To see why nobody has spoken
And you make eye contact
With old friends-become-mute

They agree in silence
“I will not say a word”
Some shift
There is giggling
“come on you guys”

Some drink their drink
Light new cigarettes
Put out the old ones
Become interested in the dull scenery of life

Some are empty
And wait in the silence
Some have become self-conscious

to the worst degree
Because they have nothing to say

and neither do their friends

Someone breaks the silence
Some find themselves
In a dumb interview
Or in a museum
Because we have all become plastic dolls

There are no words that

will sustain indefinitely

If you can recognize silence
It is always fleeting
And is broken when
We become less concerned
with who we are