The night’s silence is broken by a
Chevy truck escaping the neighborhood;
its roaring engine and squalling tires
are echoed by sirens approaching
from afar.

Blue lights upstage the moon’s yielding
glow; empty streets rapidly fill with
uniformed officers, a young woman lies
motionless on a cold, wet lawn.

A short distance away, daunting woods
shelter the unwitting assailant. Ignorant
of the outcome she fled, defeated by
hyperthermia, she surrenders to 
authorities seeking closure.

Local reporters invade the neighborhood,
develop a story seeded by the agent
behind the disaster. Her tears convince,
but dry fast once the lights are out
and the microphone is turned off.

Night surrenders to dawn, the collateral
damage is tallied. Families are frayed,
a community fractured. An otherwise
innocent woman is jailed with no 
deference paid to self-defense.