Guest Poet Corin Ellen Lindberg
Twisted Metal
Passing
on the road
to the left
lie a body
or two
strewn about
arms flailing
blood everywhere
twisted metal
once a car
or two
inseparable
forced rape
both
unwilling
partners
traffic slowed
to the scene.
morbid curiosity
made them watch
as the police
and the medic
declared war
against death
slight movement
in a car
caused commotion
as the heroes
struggled
to separate
the doors
one red
one black
as I watched
I noticed
that one
of the bodies
by the road
half covered
by a blanket
was a child:
life
cut short
on its way
to a soccer game
the rip
of metal
revealed a woman
screaming
crying
for her child
unable
to comprehend
that she would never
walk again
As the traffic
began to move
again
as life
began to resume
for us
I heard them
speaking
through the CB
The red car
had belonged
to a boy
age 17
driving drunk
somehow,
for me
that made it worse.
November, 1997
Corin Ellen Lindberg's Questions:
Does the form fit the mood of the poem? Does the ending work?
Visit my web page at:
http://www.angelfire.com/ca/VerbalFingerpaint/
Correspond with Corin Ellen Lindberg at
The.Catalyst@bigfoot.com
with your ideas about this poem.
The Albany Poetry Workshop