Some poets tell of houses where there is no talk at all, where an ominous silence thickens the air.

The silence thickened around them, stifling the little chuckles, flattening the joy, until they reached the head of the stairs.

The silence thickened until it seemed to fill the dark corners of the shack and press against the candle flame like smoke.

The silence thickened, and neither of them could find a way to reach across it.

The silence in the room thickened like a fog.

He waited a moment longer, while the silence thickened, and then broke it.

The silence thickened as he finally turned back to Rawlon.

After a moment, while the silence and tension and heat thickened, she added, "Then it was purely an impulsive gesture?"

The silence that now settled between us thickened like a sudden patch of fog.

As the seconds passed and the silence in his living room thickened, you might have assumed he was formulating an unusually nuanced response.