The street buckles
Pale milk lamplight rippling
                  with the invasion
It no longer holds its breath;
She no longer holds hers
Her scream beats the walls
Eyes turn on in their silent faces
       but she laughs uncaring
Clouds of intoxication pollute
         Crisp night air

A lamp post moves
Tall clown’s stilt-legs splitting
                         out to meet her
She stops screaming in response;
It stops moving nearer
Her neck hinges back
Eyes meet dark, unlit pumpkin gateways
        and she laughs foolishly
Sounds are taken away from her with
          One dull thud

The body hovers
Limp rag doll limbs dangling
             from a puppet’s hand
It calls silence to the street;
She calls, gaping, with it
Her lungs suck in sleep
The street turns to its muffled blanket
        so she leaves unwillingly
Dreams, kept by a protector, settle
            In the dark