Thoreau would have loved this dark lining
to a stormy December day, the even darker,
almost liquid, pooling of night. He’d have loved
me preparing meals, doing dishes, my son his
homework, all by candlelight, the household
machines, loud-mouthed TV standing lifeless.
I find myself spare in the silence, sharpened.
My steps count, movement is rationed,
the thrust and parry of the world I know—
a thunderous dream from which I have at last
awakened. In the chill air I light a fire
and worlds long gone lick the edges of today,
speak of a mind that roamed free, mapping
its maker. No outage there.
Here’s a poem published 14 years ago in North Shore Magazine – it seemed appropriate, given the current power outages in Canada and the USA! Here’s hoping all of you affected keep warm, have water to drink, food to eat and oh, get your internet service back, computers and cellphones charged up.
Lynne Burnett 
Power outage is very real right now … out of power to change the mess poor planning has rendered.
(On my personal front, I do have electricity … do not have water … do not have the nerve to drive on icy roads seeking water!) I would welcome Thoreau to sit down with us and shift our perspectives a bit – your poem is a nice trigger to imagine such. He would surely be aghast at current dependencies on bottled water.
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How perfectly you said that, Jazz! Indeed! Hope you get clean water soon! 🤞 Thanks!😘
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Isn’t it interesting that a failure to upgrade infrastructure by corporate entities that profit from their product has resulted in a diminished capacity to provide that product? Thankfully you have power. Stay hydrated!
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Yes indeed it is, Ken! Hope your epic woes resolve themselves soon!🤞
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I have no desire to become a Luddite, so I guess I’m a slave to technology!
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Well, technology is useful! Balance in all things is my mantra.
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That connection with self is a gift of the moment. If only it didn’t cause hardship for so many. Thoreau would have marveled at our dependencies.
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How true again, Ken! I love what you say about the connection with self – the challenge being to find that gift of the moment outside of hardship. That we find it at all is a blessing of course.
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