i begin with the lights 

middle of the night
throw covers on the floor
skin tells me to start
right now
this instant
right now
or it's too late 
conserve electricity
running out 
keep it safe
in mason jars
or clay mugs
i dreamed there was
no energy left
on the whole planet,
a big dead battery
leaking acid 
from its core
we drink the acid
to stay alive
i begin with the lights
flicking them off
one by one,
like shutting eyelids
letting the darkness work its way
into the living room
it's eager rush on insect feet
the shadow 
on shadow on shadow 
i think to myself 
this is what
the world would
look like without our
bulbs & our neon signs 
& our headlights
a mass of animals
making lives in the dark
some with vision that 
cuts through the blackness
i want to make a life
in the dark
i ask god for better
evolution but he's still 
asleep so i move on 
to shutting off the rest
of the house
the hot water 
& the heater
& the fan which i keep on
24/7 just for a calming sound
without the fridge running 
the white machine 
stares like a carcass 
so i eat all the food that will
go bad out of it
& lay it on it side,
a sort of burial,
with my house finished
i move on to the others 
on my street,
entering in through the basement
where all organs of the house are
i mutter to myself
about how much energy each 
of us here have been eating,
i see it in the air,
leaking out, its viscous & blue
i try to catch it 
as it trails away but it
leaks right between my fingers
like a puff of smog
make make the whole street
dark & quiet
i stand in the road, 
turning in careful circles
taking it all in,
my beautiful conserved street
no energy leaking out,
only the steady stream 
that travels 
from each of our electric mouths
i watch mine, a trickle 
up into the clouds,
go back into my house
& stare out the window
until the sun comes up