The man who cried False Alarm

Every morning this week

the neighbors car alarm has gone off-

beeping, blinking, blaring, whining, wailing-

in the darkest neighborhood of morn.

Parked across the street

it goes on and off for two full cycles,

at least,

someone is trying to snooze.

Already awake at that time,

I am still disturbed by the ruckus,

my tail feathers are ruffled,

and the worm has been scared off.

It could have been an accident-

if it wasn’t a recurrence.

And it could have been a real robbery,

since much sleep has been stolen

in our neighborhood.

Or perhaps it's petty theft-

left bereft of quiescent courtesy...

Likely, a case of false alarm was set

to scare the wolves away, 

(the wrong) buttons have been pushed-

not all alarms work the same. 


Image credit By Internet Archive Book Images [No restrictions], via Wikimedia Commons. The second jungle book., 1895.