False Alarm

The piercing clang woke frozen streets,

stumbling out in groggy beats.

Smoke unseen, cold morning breath,

a red light blinked with quiet death.

We gathered near with breath held thin,

watching shadows, no smoke or sin.

A drill, they said, a false awake,

the noise remains for safety’s sake.

Yet in that pause, the heart’s quick thrill,

the breath still caught — the false alarm’s chill.