30:30 2014, Day 9

Lockdown

At the first sign of distress

the old speaker will crackle alive

and you will hear the watchword:

Mr. McClane, please report

to the main office. Lock all doors

and pretend you're empty.

No jokes, even if life

bores you. All other alarms

are traitors now. Ignore them.

There may be screams, rattles,

a sound like dictionaries falling

before a definition can be found.

The answer to this gut-sick rebus

must be your silence. If they are close,

stuff your shirt with hardback volumes;

they can dampen or confuse

smaller rounds. Advanced Geometry

and The American Pageant are

especially dense. Hold them close

to your softest places.