day NINE HUNDRED and NINETY EIGHT

IT DIED TODAY

It died today
like a beloved family pet
or god
and we all wrung our hands
clicked, refreshed pages
like chain smokers
fiending for a drag

shit!
did you call?
what did they say?

when no answers came
we shuffled around
did what we could
looked busy

footsteps, worried whispers
echoed through the warehouse
like a mausoleum

--Brian Rilhmann