4 A.M.

An unexpected sound at 4 a.m.
Humming, idling engine
in the darkness
Now a second one
Light reflections, red
and yellow,
seeping through 
slatted blinds
Flashing
Pulsing on the wall
A stretcher empty going in
Not so returning to the sea
of shimmering lights
A motionless figure,
released
Sound fades into silence
taillights disappear
into darkness
a street light casts
long shadows
on the sidewalk
The street is still
The house dark
Stars watch
The moon
weeps