Electric Blackout : a poem on grief and grace


In silence, a kindness
as darkness fell and lights grew dim
you slept beside me,
softly

while I searched for candles
embers turning to ashes,
gently

no mortal witness ever
stayed as circuits crashed 
and transmission cut before,
breathing

as I swam bathroom currents
of tears and empty kitchens
pulsing with fears, 
transforming

and amazed, that although 
all power seemed gone –
I could still be 
shocked…

I forgot 
you could always see
in the dark



Tanja Stark (a poem for Martha 2026)

tanja stark and Martha

https://open.substack.com/pub/tanjastark/p/blackout?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Published by Tanja Stark

Australian artist Tanja Stark explores the themes of Suburban Gothic and the Sublime Divine through mixed media and photography, installation, painting and sculpture. Creating work through clay, paperbark, copper and wood, her iconic imagery takes archetypal forms both familiar and unique often centred around electric stove spiral elements and organic vessels. Born in Mackay, now working from a bush studio outside of Brisbane, she is interested in the relationship between personal and collective trauma, healing and creative expression, with an emphasis on spiritual and psychological ideas in contemporary society. She has exhibited and presented across Australia and overseas, together with professional experience in therapeutic counselling and research. She has a B.S.W from University of Queensland and published academic pieces on arts, mental health, trauma Bowie and Jungian themes with Routledge and Bloomsbury Academic Press.

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