by Rob McKinnon

In sweltering beds, the restless toss
searching for sleep avoiding them,
air conditioners and fans hum and clatter
moving hot air around heated rooms.

Somewhere in the searing housing estate,
a lone dog howls miserably
which rumbles through wilting streets,
until an angry shout brings a brief lull.

Cane toads’ deep, long croaks
roll around a small swimming pool
with crickets’ chirps providing a treble background,
both stop with a feral cat’s arrival.

A lone car drones home
rolling into a driveway just a few houses down,
a slammed door is followed by familiar screams
and thuds on the thin walls but no rescuers respond.

On the edge of the suburb,
the final train screeches to a stop
at the last station before the railhead,
grim passengers get off as the engine shuts down.