Tempted as I am to draw attention
To the flurry of words we attract
A silence in the real world
Attracts me instead

A silence that is heavy
With words we all can hear
As we wait for speech

This silence is punctuated
(Is that what attracts me?)
By the beeping of a dying cellphone
An alarm? A signal, maybe.

I get up and leave the circle
Of men waiting for a  decision
The creaking of the chair is
As speaking the words
“to leave you in peace“

I sit here, anonymously
Alive and just a little tipsy
Silence broken, voices rise
Is that a decision made?

I am tempted to draw attention
To us, here, to myself
Does my silence not speak?