Power Outage

The power flicked out
Leaving my house in darkness,
Leaving the town in darkness.

I keep matches on my desk
Next to the cigars.
I struck a match to find my watch.

It was four in the morning, the time when nothing is.
I was awake.

I walked outside, as I was, into the starlight and the moonlight.
The stars were there.
They lit the streets with that pale crystal light peculiar to themselves.

The power flicked on.
The rich yellow light of the street lamps flooded the streets.
The world had slept though it.