Sudden silence

Eerie calm where hordes of shoppers once hustled.
Silence as a thousand telephones do not ring.

Front doors left ajar reveal unswept floors.
Dishes are piled in sinks, or still on tables
With their half-eaten meals long forgotten.

A child's picture stays forever half-coloured
While an uncapped marker dessicates alongside.

A lone tap drips, unnoticed.
Something more important is happening now.

The stairs are unstomped
A child's tambourine unshaken
A book suffers damage to its spine as it lingers face down on a side table.

It's clear that something has happened here.
Something profoundly odd has disturbed an ordinary day
And changed it forever.

It's Ireland
And the sun is shining.
Quick!
Drop everything!
Go outside.