Surge Protector

Surge protecters blink and scream

At the excess voltage

That Mother sends into the wires,

Sucked from Fathers celestial generators

To teach their children humility.



The sound of superheated air

Cooling and collapsing back into itself

Fills the room,

And the lights stop flickering.



The screen remains the same

To show that "nothing happened,"

Though were it alive,

It would hide beneath the counter,

Shivering.



The corporate equipment is safe;

Its profits safe from the rage of Nature...



For now...



And we sit back in relief

And ignore, like Netherlanders,

The idea that dikes sometime fail.



Scream again, little protector,

Scream your fear and pain.

Retribution is not long escaped

No matter how many of you

We hide behind.


       ŠJune 29, 1999