Stepping out onto a city street
in the cool, unclocked hours
of the morning.

One looks about,
but not as one does in daylight --
i.e. in response to sound.

Instead, one looks about
in response to the lack of sound.

A clawing sound 
from a burrowing rat
isn't worth one's attention.

It's the silence 
that calls upon the mind
as to a sailor on shore leave.