Or Will Things Be Properly Ominous Then?

A noisy outburst of birds
And the neighbor in the next
Unit chattering with friends,

And a truck backs up, beeping,
And this is the 21st-century,
Supposedly near the end.

Let’s say it is. Let’s say guns
Fired in scattered incidents
And bombs dropped in local wars

Coalesce. Seas warm. Plagues spread.
Civilizations collapse
Between next week and next year,

Quick enough to be witnessed
Before it takes you under
Or some normal death hits first.

Will it sound like this, right up
To the edge of the cliff, sun
Shining every morning,

Triggering outbursts of birds
And the neighbor in the next
Unit chattering with friends,

And a delivery truck
To show up and unload things,
Beeping a warning again . . .