"The Quiet World" by Jeffrey McDaniel

in an effort to get people to look
into each other's eyes more,
the government has decided to allot
each person exactly one hundred
and sixty-seven words, per day.

when the phone rings, i put it
to my ear without saying hello.
in the restaurant, i point
at chicken noodle soup. i am
adjusting well to the new way.

late at night, i call my long-
distance lover and proudly say:
"i only used fifty-nine today.
i saved the rest for you."

when she doesn't respond, i know
she's used up all her words,
so i slowly whisper i love you,
thirty-two and a third times.
after that, we just sit on the line
and listen to each other breathe

~*~

I'm really taken, not exactly by a silent world, but a world where we made eye contact a lot more than we ever do now. Or even a little more, I think, would make a huge difference.

So today was a teeth-grinding, head-meet-desk-repeat day, and I saw the "your favourite poem" writer's block suggestion periodically throughout the day when I sneaked on rather than kill coworkers during my lunch break. Even though the suggestion has been replaced, I offer poems.

God says yes to me, by Kaylin Haught
( I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic... )

A song more than a poem, and it really should be experienced spoken aloud, but I'm including it anyway. A snapshot of time before what I'm assuming was an abortion she had.

Tiptoe, by Ani DiFranco
( tiptoeing through the used condoms )