Many years ago

And longer still

Was I sure I heard a shrill.


And how surreal 

Did this shrill appeal

What a thrill I found

Had I determined what was real.


And what utter horror 

Had my heart before me filled 

How I ask was I to feel? 


"Surely this must be a drill," 

Said I on paper by quill.

For this deafening shrill

Was too great for even words to spill. 


And had my own spine 

Before me chilled

At last with a will, had all seemed still.

Had I been ILL?

What I ask is surely real? 


The shadows 

Through the sepecular light 

Fill me with an utterance

Hiding behind the echo of a scream.

Or could it all have been just a dream..?