It’s quiet outside tonight

For a fleeting moment
The world almost seems to
make sense again.

But that subtle mirage of normalcy
Is quickly shattered
by the eerie absence of sound
everywhere around me.

There are no engines
There is no singing.
No laughter.
No dancing.
No cheering.

An almost perfect silence
Save for the faint whisper of a girl
Who longs to be with her friends.

I stare up at the stars
For a brief moment am taken in
by the gentle beauty of the universe.

Suddenly sirens pierce the night.
Reality comes rampaging back.
And I find myself wishing I could
turn back the pages of the book of my life
to escape this madness.

But it is not to be.
So I will stand stoically in the darkness

And wait for the coming dawn.