Power Outage
Sucking greedily for air not there,
silence descending like a blanket of snow.
No boom nor blast hearlds the lack,
just panic attack as mortality seeps.
Gone the hum of AC vibration over my head.
No whine of CPAP in my ear,
the hiss of exhalations silenced.
Wife, too, silently regards me above her breathing mask,
Now sucking greedily for air, mask discarded in disgust.
Two words her condemnation, disgust contorting normally placid features ...
"Fix it!" -- While the black monster of aphyxia ascends.
I will live another day.
First, the hop, jump, trip and fall
brief interlude to my shorts hiked above knees.
Check the cable at the wall.
Plug mates deeply with socket; no leakage there.
A trip into the house next reveals
they, too, are powerless.
Not surprising, only felines exude power,
the freezer stubbornly silent, ice maker motionless.
Back to my trailer, hovel, home,
I stare at the neighbors' home
for signs of electrical activity ... no air,
no cheerless housewife a slave to her range.
Firing up battery-powered gizmos,
soon the Internets beckon from DC heaven
summoning information,
Demco-style.
Alas, a map, clear delineation of our plight,
robbed of the exchange of electrons to drive
entertainment ridden visions of the rumors
that pass for "News" these days.
It is, indeed, a failure of power,
even her "sweet baaboo" cannot fix.
Despondancy. Depression. Hunger. Anger.
All on hold until the electrical genie returns.
That's how my morning started. I hope yours was better.
