ah, yes

boom! and lights out

internet gone, soothing music silent

but it is morning and i can load the cart with foodstuff for the new preacher

 and my bit for the potluck for our retiring minister plus

the lively farewell plant and flowers for the serving table

and struggle to get it all to the elevator here on my seventh floor

i press the button but the door does not open – no electricity, no elevator

i call my daughter to come to take my contributions and me down

six flights of stairs i have not yet tried on my own, but first she must climb

up those stairs to me before she can help me down and out to her car

we arrive at church just after service but in time to be part of the celebration

of service to our congregation by their entire wonderful family

and yet, true to my lifestyle lately,

our new pastoral family’s moving van has not yet left Texas due to flooding

so they won’t need the fresh foods we’d just carried down those stairs

to welcome them to the parsonage

what is there to do but shrug and smile?

ah, yes