Red and green LED's in contrast against black paneling -- in light of day or incandescent their presence is barely noted, points of vivid brightness made unremarkable by all the lambent glare. Purposeful utility at these times, pilot lights added by some maven of industrial design, giving their best advice on whether the amplifier is overloaded or how many calls were missed during school. A brief glance, framed in whichever context the device demands, and information is transmitted perfectly in less time than even written words could.

At night everything changes. Darkness both indoors and outside, making each appliance lose its shape and definition, making each become one with its own and every other shadow. Only the tiny squares and circles remain distinct, becoming ever brighter as eyes dilate to enable vision in so much less light. If every tree and bush and patch of grass has its own spirit, then perhaps every wonder of modern technology does too; at night they appear as one-eyed digital kodama, looking down from shelves and table-tops at each other and myself. Most keep constant gaze throughout the night; a special one changes speeds with network traffic flow while its friend winks intermittently when a cron job updates one file or another. Still, these circuit-spirits are all awake and alive around me, radiant with peaceful monochromatic light, watching over me as I rest in what must be their domain.

 

 

In bed, seeking calm 

Tossing and turning 

trying to block out the sound of traffic 

 

Head on pillow but

mind at 100 miles an hour

racing through the list of forgotten calls and misplaced keys

 

Sometime after one, 

her thoughts move to a low hum

search engine shifts to idle 

 

Asleep beneath the watchful eyes of pilot lights

 

 

 

 

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