The Fanfare Never Ceases

As I emptied my bed
the alarm filled my head
until a foreign sound from the toaster
filled the room's high reaches
with black smoke from a white
English muffin.
And an unwanted text message
emerged from the shelf
sending me back to bed
"you are fired" it said.
A hated alarm
to be missed.

Argon Gas Leak in the Lab

A team of the sorrowful
no longer wags
because there is no one to come home.

The labradoodle and black lab
noses in empty dishes
look up with a ferocity
brought on by hunger and sun.

Carelessness at work
sketches in another victim
as a silent killer leaks out
The mailman leaps to the truck
gate left open
Now they
are gone.