It wasn't the police or the EMS

It wasn't the police or the EMS,

it didn't have the rhythm of the law.

Just a mechanical, rising distress

that chewed the quiet with a jagged saw.

I sat up on the mattress in the dark

while 3:00 AM sat heavy on the floor.

The sound didn't leave a trail or a spark,

it just stopped dead and didn't scream no more.

In the kitchen, the toaster’s power light

glowed like a small, red, solitary eye.

Whatever broke or burned inside the night

left me alone to wonder at the sky.