The Gray Out Couldn't Bring Us Together Poem by Raj Dronamraju

When the power went out
We all ran outside like tumescent hairless rodent babies
And we struck up conversations with one another like we'd never seen each other before (Even though we'd all lived in the same apartment complex for several years)
Even Mrs. Watley with her unbreakable frown and constant nod of disapproval

When the power went out
I was looking over frozen choices for a soon to be unsatisfying meal
Then I was outside in the sweaty twilight
And Mrs. Watley was offering me a homemade chocolate chip cookie while the club footed woman with dandruff and an unsmiling boyfriend from the next building over smiled at me

The gray out brings men without shirts
As if they were driven outside by their clothes all catching fire
Their tattoos are nondescript and fuzzy
The women who accompany them smell like cigarettes and onions

I have aspired to be light hearted
Like neighbors brought together in cases of sudden emergency
Talking to one another about the state of California's power supply
But then the power came on again
And I went back inside