1173

The only way to get heard at the briefing
Was to have the energy to get through a three-clause
Sentence -- the comments and giggling
Fall and hush when what is spoken requires
Some thought. Thought. Wrong word -- some
Participation in the speaker's will
To anticipate, qualify, and carry on. When they speak
Of seriousness and the silly, it's this
Urgency that is meant, which, paradoxically
Is indicated not by brevity, or emotion even,
But rather by the pertinence of the remarks
And the absence of the cue they are concluded.