Current Events

Current Events

When I was six
I stuck a bobby pin
in an electrical outlet.
I was told,
Don't do that!
I remember the "U"
burned into my thumb
and forefinger,
how the power
shimmered,
how the house
shuddered.
If I had used
a safety pin, I'd be dead.
My decisions, shaky,
arc down the years.
I can't understand
my past. I can't make sense
of current events, either.
With the same hand
(fingers healed long ago)
I hold up my lamp
to see what has
been hidden. Will sense
always elude me?