I drove pass Temple Lane today

I’ve ridden by hundreds of times

never took notice of the name

but this morning I was thinking biblically

how the body is a temple

just before I heard the Blind Faith tune on the radio

with the refrain

“Come down off your throne and leave your body alone­

Somebody must change”

Oh, there can never be enough coincidences in this life

Stopped at a red light—my car idling and my eyes

closed in prayer—I asked what I asked

opened them—suddenly—midday—sunblind—

staring at a sign—on the corner planted in the ground

it read

“Don’t Ever Be in the Dark Again!”

Now this surely was extra-ordinary communication

from somewhere in the universe just months

after the hurricane

the sign had a telephone number

the intent to sell natural-

gas generators

Yes, I want my lights to turn on automatically

in a blackout, in a catastrophe, or

if I‘ve fallen into a deep hole

or if taken hostage at

gunpoint in the

underworld

of doubt

Know this—that before catharsis—there is crisis

just when you think it’s going to get even darker there’s

Immediate Illumination—Instant Karma          

Anthony Policano is a board member of the Long Island Poetry Collective and managing editor of Xanadu, their national poetry anthology. His poetry has been selectively published in many print and online journals. Anthony currently hosts a popular weekly poetry workshop vis Zoom.