I keep dreaming in dead air

Last night I was back in the booth at 3am, but the microphone was just a smooth river stone and the request line kept ringing with no one on the other end. I'd open my mouth and static would come out, warm static, like the sound of a far-off highway. Woke up feeling like I'd been holding my breath for years. Maybe that's just what silence sounds like when you've spent a lifetime filling it.