The Night's Beat

Too hot to sleep, the window open wide,

a thin sheet tangled at my side.

And then it came, through humid, heavy air,

a rhythmic thud, a sound from somewhere there.

The bounce and catch, a steady, low refrain,

like someone breathing, then again.

Swallowed by brick, released by empty street,

a solitary, echoing, distant beat.

It wasn't quite a song, not really near,

just sound that found its way to me, right here.

Out of sight, but not quite out of mind,

a longing for a simpler time, left behind.