POWERLESS

I'll tell you what I didn't anticipate today: a power cut.

Yeah - it's such a rarity, that when it happened, I started wondering all kinds of things, like 'Did I pay the electricity bill?' And, 'Have I got candles?' - oh and, 'I'd better wrap up warm'.

Of course my laptop went straight into portable mode and dimmed the screen. The Internet went off too, so I couldn't connect to anything. That makes it much harder to tell your colleagues what had happened and why you're not in the 'important' meetings they've arranged for you. Thankfully, my phone was set up to act as 4G hotspot, so I picked it up and switched it on. It was on 6% battery.

I moved fast. Lightning fingers flew over the keys, tapping out messages to let people know what had happened. The laptop dimmed to 79%, the phone fell to 2% and eventually I powered it all down with a sigh.

We definitely take electricity for granted. Billions of tiny little electrons flow through tubes, generating current that powers our lives. Without it, I was contemplating survival mode with no boiler to heat the water, no power to cook any food and no light or heating to give me a semblance of home on a grey winter's morning.

So I got out an old-fashioned little notebook, found a pen, and wrote a poem - ink on paper just like the old days.

Powerless

Scrabble for the candles
Try and find a torch!
Looking for the fusebox?
Ladder's in the porch...
Where's that box of matches?
What's this all about?
Not much we can do
When the blessed power's out

Can we boil a kettle?
Make a cuppa tea?
Not without the help of
Dear old elec-tricity.
Isn't it romantic?
(Someone will remark)
Well not if we're just sitting
In the cold and in the dark!

Rummage for the lighter
In the messy drawer!
Where's the clicky thing we've kept
Since 1984?
How are all the street lamps?
Good idea, go see!
Check the next-door neighbours
Aren't still watching their TV!

Gather round the table
Faces that you know
Flickering by candle
In a soft but gentle glow
Start a conversation,
Look them in the eye
Make the moment twinkle
As the tiny stars go by

Powerless we may be,
Powerless we're not.
Connected to the spark of
All the people that we've got.
Beautiful connection
Never was in doubt!
We will be together
When the blessed power's out