Not Talking

There can be days in a row
of not speaking to another
person –
silence becomes –

& in time I may forget how
to talk aloud –
My internal
dialogue rumbles –
foolish

thoughts chatter brightly –
I ask my dog to sit –
to wait
& to stay –
& not much else

as strangers come & go –
In
my past life I wouldn’t shut
up –
laughter kept me alive

as much as air –
breaths are
my quieter sounds –
Tongue
& lip work are laid aside as I

sit at my window –
I‘ll mouth
a hello –
or a lazy hi –
thrown
through my dumbing panes