The Collected Writings of Brian J. Mueller

A single poem, met at the right moment, can change a life.

Search and read all 1,834 pieces by Brian J. Mueller — 1,675 poems, 38 prose pieces, and 121 haiku from 12 published volumes. Free to read and share.

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Outages

...the shorter the better.

The storm raged for a while
before the power went out.
Then the rain slowed to a trickle
and I heard a thunderous clap
before the lights flickered off.

I thought to myself,
this could as easily be
an exploding transformer
as a bolt of lightning
darkening our block.
No matter which, I knew
it would likely be hours
before power was restored.

So what do you do
when the power goes out?

I went to bed,
tossed and turned,
took the dog out at 2 a.m.,
then got up at 6 a.m.
About that same time
the lights came back on.