Poets logo

The Electricity Box Down The Street

A Poem

By Harry KalvinPublished 3 years ago 1 min read
1

I grew up,

in a house,

in a town.

Where the most dangerous thing around,

was the electricity box down the street.

Our parents told us,

stay away from it.

“It could blow up anytime.”

But we used it

as a sanctuary

in hide and seek.

Holding our breaths

imagining electrical currents,

running through the green box.

As the seeker,

stalks the street,

calling our names,

into stale suburban air.

Then

when

I was nine,

I saw my mom

smoking a cigarette

in her “art room”

in the backyard.

She held it,

without thinking about it,

like how I would hold a carrot,

my dad gave me.

And that cigarette became

the most dangerous thing.

Until

the Super Bowl.

Brady beat the Panthers.

Tom Petty played halftime.

But my mom couldn’t tell you any of that.

Because that day my mom drank a bottle of red wine.

Then another.

And another.

She chased us around,

a ball of energy,

cutting in and out of hallways and rooms.

After a while,

she got tired.

We waited for her to pass out.

Later my dad came home,

and did

what the electricity box down the street,

or the cigarettes in the “art room”,

never did.

He blew up.

Bottles thrown,

tears dropped,

a combustion

in a house silently bubbling,

with unpent energy.

My brothers and I

hid upstairs.

We hid

behind

each other.

We were,

as silent as

the San Francisco bay currents,

on a windless day.

slam poetry
1

About the Creator

Harry Kalvin

Harry Kalvin is an artist from the Bay Area who now resides in Long Beach. His main focus is to document the human condition as is. Harry believes in tapping into the underlying and unifying feelings that ultimately bring people together.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.