Before Darkness

Daylight friezes,
Picturesque tile mosaics
Photo shopped to taste
Apartment ledge jumpers
Poised for the leap
Decorate the city
Like gargoyles.

When sirens slice
Sleep like death
Who can hear the whispers?
Tunneled mice scamper
Twisting babies’ dreams
The screams drawled
In wincing o’s, frozen.

But when darkness comes
The neon lights the way
Illuminates the day