GETTING THE ELECTRICITY ON

GETTING THE ELECTRICITY ON

GETTING THE ELECTRICITY ON

The farm has changed, face-lifted
since we put away the lamps
or hung them up with lanterns, as antiques.
The house is new-veined, lush.

Getting the current switched through — such
fever, a district-do to celebrate:
“We’ll be like the townsfolk now,” we sang.
My mother saw the world transformed
by a washing-machine and fridge.

My father, caught by progress in a skein
that swept about his ears,
tracked voyages round the farm
reassured by the sameness of the stars
and lanterns lighting his mind.