The car alarm cut out at four

The car alarm cut out at four,

leaving a hole in the quiet

that I couldn't seem to fill.

I sat on the linoleum and watched

the blue, digital glow of the oven clock

swimming in the surface of my coffee.

Then the starlings hit the power lines outside.

It sounded like a handful of gravel

flung against a tin roof—

a sudden, sharp clatter of life

starting up before I’d even finished with yesterday.