Missing

On that warm morning
No one noticed much.
But by the hot noontime,
Someone noticed:

The library was not there.
It had been moved.

By mid afternoon
It was discovered
That the park was gone.

The museum was missing,
And the meeting hall,
And the stadium.

Only the school remained.
But it was closed for renovation;
Its roof collapsed.

By sunset the townspeople
Had shuttered themselves
In their living rooms;
The week-long premier
Of reality shows was here.

By evening the blindness
Spread through the town.
Eyes would not meet each other
As heads hung, absently, down.

At night: the howls of dogs,
Louder than the squeals
Of children.

Overhead, the stars wheeled -
The only places left
For thieves to steal.