Power Event Poem

Sandra Filippelli

• Turn the power back on yourself. Do not wait for Hydro to do it for you.
This feat will require sublime effort. Do not call a man.
• Solicit the full moon for light. Disregard your dead flashlight.
• Draw in extra light from the stars. Embellish your horoscope.
• Breathe deeply to generate warmth. Huddle inside a down sleeping bag.
• Sing Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind at the top of your lungs. You will blow heat around the room.
• Visualize yourself running to the finish line of a marathon. You will sweat profusely.
• Pray for dawn to come prematurely.
• Plan a winter business meeting down to the wardrobe choice, including down outer garments. No sense not being ready for work tomorrow.
• Imagine you are eating dark chocolate while drinking piping hot ginger tea.
• Spice up your visualization with a trace of cumin spice.
• Think of something that enrages you until your face burns crimson.
• Teleport your thoughts to a sunbaked equatorial landscape. Imagine creeping under a mosquito net.
• Trace a trans-global cycling route and calculate the funds needed to complete it. Make a mental note of when you will embark on this trip.
• Harness your mental strength. Remember the force within you.
• Forget that you are in a power outage. The moon will guide you.
• Declare this power event a non-emergency.

Power Outage Un/Event

Sandra Filippelli

In the un/event of a power failure, take the following calculated steps to ensure that you are unprepared.
• Throw out all new and partially used candles: fear igniting a fire or illuminating darkness.
• Pay your hydro bill two months ahead to avoid neglect of electrical utilities. You will wish you had the funds to eat locally when your stove shuts down.
• Allow your flashlight batteries to linger until the gadgets’ lights dim.
• Ride the elevator Dr. Strangelove retro.
• Forget to stock up on canned tuna and salmon.
• Misplace the can opener (a variant on the above entry).
• Neglect to have a battery-operated radio. You might have trouble hearing in the darkness anyway.
• Use up your cellphone data (a variant on the above entry).
• Don’t use your laptop or tablet battery to write emails to people who can’t get the electricity back on for you.
• Determine not to call anyone on your land line, which you retain for emergency (a variant on the above entry).
• If you can’t fall asleep, consider other options.
• Sit in blackout.
• Breathe.
• Let all thoughts go.
• Attune to sounds, such as multiple wailing sirens.
• Let sounds drift away.
• Inhale softly.
• Exhale gently.
• Forget about sleep. Forget about work.
• Release all issues.
• Declare this power outage a non-emergency event.

Eco Event Poem