Teachers call it

Wait time

Thinking lingers on the question

So they wait

 

Mystics call it

The sense of presence

Waiting for God

To fill the silence

 

Parents call it

Respite,

When the echoes have died

Peace returns.

 

Firearms experts call it

Hanging fire

“An unexpected delay in firing,

Which can be several seconds.”

 

When the eventual pause

Comes between us on the phone

I rest on the hinge

Between awkward and anticipation

I want to call it “wait time”

But it feels more like . . . .

“Hanging fire.”