the town is quiet as sheenvelopes it in her cold embrace,tears falling for their lost time.a year of silence has ledto an unspoken agreement:the townspeople must not break it.after two years, the townlies in wait, losing vision of an endto the stillness that surrounds them.the stillness that seemsto swallow them whole, taking notonly time, but what that time couldhave given the people. it has been two years sincethe quiet fell, since staying apartand covering our faces in oftenfruitless attempts of safety.still, we wait.there is some semblance of normalthese days, in that children willgo to school and adults to jobs,but as someone balancing the two,these polar opposite worlds,i often lose sight of the end. i am not so certain that there will be an end.