Silence in a Call Center

It’s the silence I remember most,

An absence of breath,

Eerie, like the presence of ghosts,

Or a demon’s caress.

I stood from my cubicle confused,

Searching for someone, anyone,

But the room was empty and oozed,

Of heightened tension just begun.

Glancing at the screen, I saw,

Forty long minutes since my last call.

Briefly I wondered if I were dead,

Because the quiet was so widespread.

Then a flicker, a colorful flash,

Painted the wall in rainbow hues.

Quick as a startled deer, I dashed,

Toward this illuminating clue.

And there they were, in another room,

Coworkers watching with brows furrowed

Anderson Cooper on the news,

Reporting the story that changed the world.

Behind him, captured in the camera frame,

Stood the Towers, wreathed in flame.