a light goes out

I changed the lightbulb
in the fixture
on my ceiling fan
a few days back
and within hours,
the adjacent light
began to
flicker.

Who would have thought.

The flickering persisted
until
the bulb
eventually failed.
So, I began the process
again.

I removed the frosted glass dome
and noticed something unusual,
something unexpected.

There was the strong odor of
burnt plastic
and the mate,
a compact flourescent bulb,
had been scorched
by the heat
of the one newly installed.

Previously, I used halogen
and flourescent bulbs
together,
to give an uneasy
yet evenly colored
light.

It cast twin shadows
on everything,
one slightly red
while the other was
a distinctly blue hue.

My life in 3-D.

Now, everything glows
orange
and everything is
half of what it was.

I really don't want to
change the bulbs again,
not this soon...

I'm listening to Kelli Dayton,
or Kelli Ali,
or whatever her name is,
singing "How Do"
and I'm just two dimensions.

A red shadow and time.

What good are these
cellophane glasses,
these paper frames,
when you loose
perspective.

I have a mouth full
of toothpaste and
I haven't been brushing.
That part comes next
and, when it does,
I will
turn out the light.