8:00pm - driving mother to fetch some groceries.
Driving under,
Dim carpark lights,
My mother tells me to get out of this place
Something is not right - where are the mortals?
I spot one human
Security perhaps or an outsider maybe.
Driving up to the ramp,
To the wild -
Main open carpark
We spot window light
Two workers spotted inside.
Bright fluorescent store lights
But no human activity.
Is this a glimpse of the end-of-the-world?
Or dear Autumn - are you giving us a cue?
I leave with mother with no goods for security tonight
I put the car window down
And breathe
I catch a whiff -
A familiar, redolent scent of blurred high school years and the cold uncertainty of this state
My car headlights spot seagulls migrating off somewhere
The birds have witnessed the sign too.