sleeping with the windows open

one night this summer the entire neighborhood went black. the neighbors crowded in the stairwells, flipping switches, but all remained in the dark. the fireflies carried on noticed. the crickets harmonized audibly. the evening was velvet in its opaque prescence. windows were opened, with no rattling a/c units to disturb the breathing night. i had but two votive candles at my aid, and so with a contented sigh i slept the unencumbered slumber of a child.