Ode to the Power Grid

Ode to the Power Grid

Oh you ugly power lines
your demanding right-of ways
your high tension towers
    marching across the landscape
    like invading aliens
your poles waiting for cars to crash into them
your transformers filled with toxic PCBs
your 60 cycle buzzing
    a whiff of ozone
your threat of electrocution
your belching smokestacks
your dam whining turbines
    blocking rivers
    salmon spawning
Fukushima Daiichi, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl
    glowing memories

when you fail
    no light
    no heat
    no interwebs
    appliances don't even blink
    cell phone almost dead
what time is it?
    eating our ice cream before it melts
    as we watch TV by candlelight
    and pedal our electric bikes
    chop wood
    carry water
    
oh you terrible no-good horrible power grid
    we miss you so much
    please come back soon!


Steve Smith








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