Tripped
Tripped
Stumbling in the darkness.
She turns on her hair dryer.
The house goes completely dark
as the circuit is tripped.
I sit in stillness for a moment
taking in the sudden silence,
then sigh and blink my way
along a shadowy corridor
until I find the garage.
She asks,
Can we have that fixed?
I don't respond.
She's probably forgotten
an electrician is coming tomorrow.
It's not her fault.
It's not my fault.
It's not even a big a deal.
It's a metaphor
for what happens
when anything becomes
overloaded.
Sometimes the best lighting of all is a power failure.
~ Douglas Coupland
