Wreck

The midnight sky is mirrored on the blacktop by scattered shards of glass
Like spilled diamonds on dark velvet winking random patterns as I pass
A meaningless scrawl of truncated life mixes with tire tracks and mud
The alphabet of accidents is painted in sacrificial blood
Letters of death penned with tangled flesh form sentences of grief and loss
Line by line the highways scribe an end to stories at terrible cost
At turn-pikes and off-ramps the roads spasm into complex snarling knots
And no matter which route I take I cannot drive far enough to stop
The mayhem of the motorways or the transportation of my soul
From here to there and back again under the illusion of control
When the weapons are cocked and loaded we point the weapons at our homes
So casually we flirt with death, so casually we atone
Our lives are just the risk we take when we rush to get where we`re going
The ambulance will find us by the roadside, disarmed and so alone
Unable to
engage
In anything but sorrow
Unable to imagine
The dawning of tomorrow
Without you

Published in: on September 9, 2009 at 8:59 pm  Comments (17)  
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17 CommentsLeave a comment

  1. Wreck of present mayhem. Nice post

  2. Very Dark- It sinks in deep for me! (Is it just me or are we all feeling a little dark this September?)

  3. This is powerful. Deep and emotional. excellent.

  4. It’s dark, but darkly powerful. I like the feel of it.

  5. Very deep and dark, a powerful piece. The imagery is vivid and moving.

  6. I was moved reading this. Excellent post.

    time runs out on me

  7. A good lesson in a fascinating form.

    I had to look up American Sentences. What surprised me is I might have used them in my piece. Do you understand the form well?

    • American sentences, and their corollary, the American Sandwich, are relatively new to me. The good folks over at http://www.theamericansandwich.blogspot.com could probably tell you more, or furnish you with informative links. It’s quite an enjoyable exercise, trying to use exactly 17 syllables, and I find sentences of that length have a certain flow and rhythm to them that makes them a joy to read. Do look into it!

      • I will! Thanks for the information.

  8. Thank you very much for the “comment corrections” on my blog. I had to chuckle when I read the piece using the meaning for the incorrect words…oh dear. I do need to be more watchful!

    You poem above is so well constructed and reflects the patterns in life. I loved it.

    b

    • I must admit, “mailable” gave me a good chuckle, too. All’s well that ends well, though! Thanks for the visit!

  9. wow – how sad! Well done.

  10. deeply moving, vivid and wow.

  11. What Thom said. Especially the ‘Wow!’

  12. Excellent!

  13. You’re right about the rhythm of the Americdan Sentence. I like the flow of this poem!

  14. Very vivid imagery in this & the rythm accentuates it somehow. I like it very much.


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