When the Device Dies

Battery dead. Nothing else near.
Waiting. What can you do
if not check email, glance at Facebook,
look at the calendar, edit the minutes,
play blackjack or Angry Birds?
What can you do?
Try out that Constant Contact
that needs no electronics, jump ahead
on tonight's inventory, journal.
By hand??!! Yes, you can write
and read it if you try.
There are paperclips to string.
Why does that appeal? Could it be
I'm afraid to be alone with my thoughts,
my fears, my jealousies, my compulsions,
with my self...? Hey. I'm not alone.
But that Power that's here scares me
more than insanity. Yet if I dare to reach out
I can learn how to live with solitude,
with simplicity, with Power.