He was disconnected from reality,
as he went about his work.
It was just as unimportant as he treated it,
but his hands moved steadily
Though, with such mundanity.
He didn’t think twice about anything.
The glassy eyes of other people
Only made things more dulling.
Leaving him surrounded, yet alone.
The silence came from all the voices
blending into an inaudible cluster of sound
to be drowned out, like their sorrows.
He continued still occupied with his task
Removed from the world around him.
His politeness and smile were only a mask.
Interacting with others only when necessary.
Which is why no one had noticed
when he had disappeared
or when they had last seen him.
His bodies were discovered later that week
Without any clear causes of death.
The small town was left
just as clueless about the missing victims
as they were about his sudden disappearance.