the dead quiet

it's deathly quiet.

I pick up the phone, shake it.
no ring,
no sign of life on the outside.

I look out the window to see
if there is a mushroom cloud
in the distance,

but nothing is there.

now word of plague, or
an apocalypse,

no zombie dead walking about.

it's just quiet.

I yell out the window,
but I get nothing in returen.

there's not even
an echo.

no voice coming back.