Alarm

When you are uncertain
about where that nearby
car alarm is going off

and your own car is out of sight
and you can’t say for certain
what your alarm sounds like

you might want to pull
some pants on before
stepping into the cold

to see if you are responsible
for your own awakening
and any others out there

When you are sure that
it’s not you but
the silver Acura parked

across the street and up
the block in the driveway
of the only single family home

around here 
The one whose occupants
you’ve never even seen

you step back into the foyer
and wait to see who comes out
but no one does

You cannot go back to sleep
wondering if it shut off by itself
after what seemed like an hour

or did it get shut off
by someone inside using
a remote 

Someone remote and
unseen who lives among us
putting forth disruptions

like small bombs that will trouble
our sleep until the day
we no longer hear them at all

and thus will be destroyed