the rolling blackouts have started
and my building is dark
or will be
when the sun sets

no power for the two old ladies
who have lived there
since it was built
way, way back
in ‘59

not that they have A/C
or insulation
or even the magic
of cross-ventilation

(that’s not how they built things
in ‘59
no matter what anyone says
about the Good Old Days)

but there is no power for their fans
or their ancient refrigerators
or a light in the bathroom
so they can run a tub
of cold water

plenty of power on Wilshire, though–
can’t have those personal relocation devices
hitting each other

and they say
there’s so much power
at the mall
that the air-conditioned merchants
leave their doors open
to help cool
the shoppers

(nice merchants)

lately I swing
between wondering if this is the end of the world
and hoping it is

there would be a kind of satisfaction
in watching the wolves
set upon the drivers of SUV Nation
and the barons of McMansion Estates
and other members
of the Clueless Majority

stay here long enough
and you’ll know what I mean
unless you don’t
in which case, the wolves
will probably get you next…

that is
if they don’t take me out
on my way back from Peets
where I came to cool myself
with stolen dinosaur bones
and a strong sense of irony

xxx
c

Posted at 9:31pm. I’m home and so is Mr. Watts…for now.

Image by Spamily via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.

TOPICS: blackouts, conservation, consumerism, energy consumption, Environment, Poetry Thursday, Rants.