The doorbell’s dull and chipped refrain

The doorbell’s dull and chipped refrain,

pressed twice, a pause, then silence again.

Fingers hover in the empty night,

no footsteps, no eyes in dim porch light.

I stand with breath too loud, too loud,

calling out beneath a quiet cloud.

The bell’s thin voice dissolves, unheard,

a question lost without a word.

No answer comes to claim the sound,

just empty air and waiting ground.