(x = space)

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2 poems about power

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A Day without Power

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The plug on the computer broke

Last night

I had what was left of

The battery’s charge

I thought about what to do

Without the use the computer

To get a part for the computer

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I live in a small town

There aren’t big signs saying

Fix Your Computer Here

But I call a friend

And with real words we discussed

The problem

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He knows more than I

And so helped me make a list

Of non-electronic possibilities

I moved on one of these

Using the car

(not a mouse)

Going to a place with walls

Not firewalls

Looking people in the face

And telling my brief story

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We found something universal

That could fit

My machine

I purchased the new thing

That wasn’t cheap

But a day without

Going into two days

Was not desirable

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In the world,

There are better needs

And bigger

I didn’t lose electricity

And I’m not in a war zone

I am poor

But there’s help to get me food

When need be

And sometimes other things

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I am sick

And usually tired

But am ambulatory

And have lots of pills

That help

And there are side effects,

Which mostly thanks to taxes

And my age

I can afford

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I tend to think your needs

Must be greater than mine,

More real

And more pressing

But in my larger story

There was one decent passage

I can share with you now,

Hopefully to hear

Your story, too

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The Power of Friendship

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We’ve been through COVID

Got our shots

More or less retired

From our jobs

We both believe

And sometime have

Good conversations about faith

We share books

We don’t shop

Or take trips together

We might cheer on different teams

He has a house

(mortgage paid off recently)

He is married

Has three children

I’m forever the third wheel

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We give rides for each other

When needed

For tests or procedures

He’s gotten me to hospitals

When necessary

And sat through

Unovertly

Through many times of waiting

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There’s power in this

Unplanned

We simply met through the department

And it’s been many years

Untypical perhaps

Too academic

I think we both

Like the mind

But there is more

As there is more to people

And a complex world

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The future will provide

There is no prophecy

Apart

We have our issues

And our challenges

Together

What David and Jonathan

Might define

Or Gertrude and Alice

Something in the ether

And before the TV

Watching movies (us three)

On Friday

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C L Couch

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Photo by Robert Linder on Unsplash

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