The power came and went,
Like a candle flickers before it’s spent,
And I knew at some point later that day,
Irene was going to take our power away.
Where I live, power outages are the norm,
Even without the presence of a storm;
But this here storm was a behemoth,
Having lashed us when her potency was at its zenith.
Around noonday the electricity was gone -
And by day’s end, so, too, was my religion,
I blasphemed God, doubted His power -
Especially when hours passed without response to my prayer.
God, are you even there? was the sentiment I expressed.
The next day was the Sabbath,
And I ventured out to witness the aftermath:
In the lot was debris, and a fallen branch I drug aside,
It was like a beach littered with flotsam brought in by ocean tides.
Noon marked one day without electricity,
And my cell phone had long run out of battery;
My mother’s - whose had passed us through the previous night -
Was on the verge of having read to it its last rites.
Later that day, however, we were fortunate,
To visit houses flowing with electrical current;
We got to charge our phones, eat a hot meal,
For awhile escaping a situation that seemed unreal.
But it wasn’t long before gravity rended us from our delight,
Back to reality - we couldn’t decline the invite,
At night, the darkness and silence encapsulated us -
It was like having been buried alive inside a sarcophogus...
Monday morning came. No power.
Afternoon came. Still, no power.
I told a neighbor: I’ll gather my boys, you gather your girls,
And we’ll storm city hall like it’s the Bastille;
She laughed affectedly -
But I think she was high anyway...
I doubt I would’ve stormed city hall;
But the situation made it hard to remain civil,
Earlier that day we’d thrown our spoiled food away,
And the crews restoring power
Seemed to be doing so with delay.
Yet - a little after 3 o’clock - something remarkable happened,
And it caused me to cast aside all my suppositions:
Through the blinking clock radio and hum of the refrigerator,
I knew then that our power had been restored!
I went outside to spread the news,
Like a pastor descending the pulpit to the pews;
However, everyone was already made aware -
In an instant, THE CRISIS WAS OVER.
- Kevin B. Waring
And I knew at some point later that day,
Irene was going to take our power away.
Where I live, power outages are the norm,
Even without the presence of a storm;
But this here storm was a behemoth,
Having lashed us when her potency was at its zenith.
Around noonday the electricity was gone -
And by day’s end, so, too, was my religion,
I blasphemed God, doubted His power -
Especially when hours passed without response to my prayer.
God, are you even there? was the sentiment I expressed.
The next day was the Sabbath,
And I ventured out to witness the aftermath:
In the lot was debris, and a fallen branch I drug aside,
It was like a beach littered with flotsam brought in by ocean tides.
Noon marked one day without electricity,
And my cell phone had long run out of battery;
My mother’s - whose had passed us through the previous night -
Was on the verge of having read to it its last rites.
Later that day, however, we were fortunate,
To visit houses flowing with electrical current;
We got to charge our phones, eat a hot meal,
For awhile escaping a situation that seemed unreal.
But it wasn’t long before gravity rended us from our delight,
Back to reality - we couldn’t decline the invite,
At night, the darkness and silence encapsulated us -
It was like having been buried alive inside a sarcophogus...
Monday morning came. No power.
Afternoon came. Still, no power.
I told a neighbor: I’ll gather my boys, you gather your girls,
And we’ll storm city hall like it’s the Bastille;
She laughed affectedly -
But I think she was high anyway...
I doubt I would’ve stormed city hall;
But the situation made it hard to remain civil,
Earlier that day we’d thrown our spoiled food away,
And the crews restoring power
Seemed to be doing so with delay.
Yet - a little after 3 o’clock - something remarkable happened,
And it caused me to cast aside all my suppositions:
Through the blinking clock radio and hum of the refrigerator,
I knew then that our power had been restored!
I went outside to spread the news,
Like a pastor descending the pulpit to the pews;
However, everyone was already made aware -
In an instant, THE CRISIS WAS OVER.
- Kevin B. Waring
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