Ef við leggjum sínisismann til hliðar í smá stund...

In an effort to get people to look

into each other's eyes more,

the government has decided to allot

each person exactly one hundred

and sixty-seven words, per day

when the phone rings, I put it

to my ear without saying hello.

in the restaurant I point

at the chicken noodle soup. I am 

adjusting well to the new way.

late at night, I call my long-

distance lover and proudly say:

I only used fifty-nine today.

I saved the rest for you.

when she doesn't respond, I know

she's used up all her words,

so I slowly whisper I love you,

thirty-two and a third times.

after that, we just sit on the line

and listen to each other breathe.

-úr "The Quiet World" eftir Jeffrey McDaniel

...þá er þetta er nú svolítið sætt.