The agreement

The streetlight is the only light this morning
The sky is still dark at six oh eight
The sound of my dog
Rustling in the un-mown grass
Is the only sound I hear.

A neighborhood car passes the house
The dull roar of its engine
Passing on into the cover
Of the retreating street

An odd sense of peace
Passes through my shoulders
As I encounter an unanticipated feeling of safety
In my alone-ness with my dog

It is not the enforcement of the peace
But the unspoken compact
Between my neighbors and myself
At this early morning hour
Which allows sleep to lay claim
To our collective awareness.

There may be evil walking the streets
Somewhere in the sleeping city,
A dark presence in the shadows,
But here in my front yard
The efficacy of the agreement
Retains its gentle grasp on the moment at hand.