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& While the Power Was Out
Hot winds settled east of here;
the blurred silences began. Stripes of
the nuthatch stayed when the nuthatch
flew off; & though you felt
the sunlight might bring harm,
an odd forgiveness entered the suburbs
where, like the dog in childhood,
you drew comfort from the floor.
Some adults were baffled wondering what
to do next. Shouldn’t they know?
You sat quite still, & still,
all the way up your spine
reason had hung its unfathomable lights.
O.k., then: you were supposed
to remain strong; you knew this.
You were supposed not to worry.
Once you were strong; the rare
historical voices moved aside so you
could be different. Now, afternoon was
dark, so how to tell which
ones were real? They pressed along
through massive centuries. What do you
need? What shall we do now,
they kept asking you, their ideal.
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