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Contests : Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest : Past Winners : 2007 : Commended
IN THE DARK
I'm having this problem, see,
changing a light bulb in the ceiling
the ladder is a bit wobbly, the window
too close to the ladder, so I flatten the ladder
against the wall but then I can't reach the light bulb,
I could stand on the counter but I might slip, no, the ladder
is the best strategy, but—here's the irony—it's dusk and I can't
see to change the light bulb, I should have done this earlier, but I was at
the library trying to copy an important legal document which may or may not
determine my final wishes, but I ran out of dimes, so I stopped at the corner tavern
to mooch a few coins, the game—the game—who can leave during the fourth quarter, then
sudden death, so you can see I'm having this problem changing a light bulb in the ceiling, then
I hear the news, the news, it's Darfur, I don't know where that is but there's a fund established
by celebrities, and the endless body count in Iraq, the drove of global warnings, what do you
expect from someone who is having a problem changing a light bulb, what can I do about
these disasters heralded in every edition of the morning news, every evening somber
stones of stories at dinnertime, I stiffen at the thought of my incompetence and
guilt as if some parent tap, tap, taps his foot impatiently while I blather on
about the light bulb, children are starving, soldiers are dying, the earth is
gray with ash, scarred from pole to pole, I can't seem to maneuver
the ladder back into the garage until morning when it's light
and I can see, so I leave it against the wall; I'm having
this problem, see, it's like this, a burned out 100
watt light bulb, all this electricity, and the
ladder, the wall, the window, the
library, the tavern, my
incomplete world
so dark and
utterly
small.
This poem won a Commended award in the 2007 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest sponsored by Tom Howard Books. Author Mimi Moriarty received a $50 award. Winning Writers assists this contest. Copyright is reserved to the author.
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