A Single Bulb, Or, The Price of Light
by Jules Wright
· 19/12/2025
Published 19/12/2025 12:55
Months. This coat,
hung in the back, ignored.
Then my hand, reaching,
just for a tissue, maybe.
Instead, this.
A crumpled thing,
thermal paper, thin,
almost translucent.
'Hardware,' it says,
faded, barely there.
And 'LED A19 60W EQ'
with the price,
six-ninety-nine, precise,
ugly even, for a bulb.
From last winter.
I remember.
That gray light, that constant gloom,
the one lamp in the kitchen, blown.
How long did I sit in the dark,
before I finally went out for this?
Just one.
Just one small attempt
to break the dim.
It’s still in the drawer, probably.
Still in its box.
Never screwed it in.
Just kept the receipt.