elena came into work this morning,
tossing a small can of redbull in the dumpster
out the back door.
forgetting to share her usual smile,
she blamed the allergies for her red eyes.
she looked down while she talked,
and carried on each of her tasks mechanically.

and in the middle
of finishing a handed down task,
she overheard a conversation
out the office door.
her coworker offers condolences
knowing everything was overheard.

elena walks into the bathroom quietly.
turns on the vent for noise,
but leaves the light out.
she puts the seat top down
and sobs,
calculating and miscalculating
recent gains and losses.
weighing her current situation,

she pats her eyes dry.

she begins her daily tasks,
shifts around her environment
trying to make no noise.
she sits in her car after work

she listens to silence
with nowhere to be -
smiling about the damn fortune cookie
her boss gave her at lunch today.

"in every difficult situation, there is an opportunity."