Light Pollution

Gale force winds took out

my city's power recently

for a few days

The darkness I could handle,

but the silence was overwhelming

The incessant beeping

of the apartment building generator

gave test to my sanity,

and the quiet swat of my hand

against my thigh 

to smother a hungry mosquito

seemed almost deafening

Outside,

trees ripped out of the ground

as if god had reached down

and plucked them out

to fall onto well-groomed lawns

When the beeping 

became too much at night,

I would stand on the porch

with my neck craned backwards,

arms crossed,

eyes closed

When I opened them again

I was staring 

at the deep, rich, and waiting mouth 

of the sky

sans light pollution, 

dotted with satellites

and every thought 

that my sandbags couldn't keep in 

The mosquitoes could feed on those too