Lunch Hour

Chipper chatter

Bounces around this crowded room

Co-workers watching the clock

As they share a quick meal.

Any other day

We would add to the happy din

Of voices and laughter between hasty bites

Knowing the food

Is secondary to the face time.

Squeezing as much as we can

Out of a too-short lunch hour

We would share stories

                Of work and home

And list favorites

                From tv and music.

The conversation would come easily.

It always has.

But not today.

This lunch hour is different.

The chatter around us

                Annoying at first

Soon fades away

Leaving us in a bubble of silence

So full of meaning

That we almost can’t speak.

We are reduced to small talk

As we nibble our cold fries

Without tasting them.

We exchange thoughts of friendship

Without saying them.