poem of the day 01.28.16

the electrician

three days
with not heat
no hot water
vodka after vodka after
as a blizzard falls
we breathe heavy
into the amber-dimmed room
to see if we can see our breath
while in the hallway
some tenant screams accusations and obscenities
at the super, at his wife
at their two year old daughter
chalkboard slangy valley girl blonde ditz voice
who’s never been cold
a day in her life
looking for someone to blame
because daddy told her on the phone
not to take this inconvenience lying down
the younger they get the more they bitch
the less empathy they seem to have
some have taken
to scrawling revolutionary script
on paper throughout the building
begging us to call 311 for salvation
calling bullshit on the dead boiler
but still the snow falls and the wind howls
and the hard wood gets colder
the extra shirts and blankets and socks and hats
are outliving their usefulness
the alarm clock flips slowly
on these desperate hours
and the kitchen light won’t turn on
four double vodkas and no food
suddenly i’m an electrician
a high wire act on a shaking chair
i fall and land on shoulders land on knees
next to a frozen cockroach
as my wife rushes over
as the cat circles and cries
while outside my door
ditz blonde ditz screams echoes into our little world
that she’d not going to take
this kind of stupid shit
anymore.