I read something today about an accident -- and it turned into this:

CRASH

Like the last second
Before the car
Runs into the bus
And you remember the name
Of the street
Where your uncle lived
When you were six
And the bus is getting
Bigger and bigger
In slow motion
The closer you get
The slower things go
But the squealing
And the screaming
And the gray skies
Outside the car window
Are all still going at the right speed
And you hear yourself
Saying
(Thinking)
I remember,
I remember,
The street was called
B –

Every second is somebody’s last
Someone’s last breath
Last tick of the clock
Don’t blink
You’ll miss it
Breathe –
Tick --
Snip –
Another thread severed
Whose turn is it next?

I read in the paper
Where someone had figured
A billion seconds
Is about thirty-one years
Look at me,
I made it
Working on the second billion
But –

Every second is somebody’s last
A billion
How much is that?
Is it my fault?
I don’t even know how many seconds
I have left
Can I give them away
To the one who deserves them?
Or –
Breathe –
Tick –
Snip

A billion last breaths
A billion last ticks
A billion more snips
And it goes on and goes on and goes on

It’s the ones left behind
Who clean up the mess
The broken bus
The broken car
The bodies
The memories
The regrets
The things not said
The last words never meant to be “last words”
(“Can you pick up some hot dogs
On the way home from work?” --
Such a legacy – )

Breathe –
Tick –
Snip

Every second is somebody’s last –
Not mine
Not this second
But maybe the next one
Or tomorrow
Or Tuesday
Or next year
Or –
Breathe –
Tick –
Snip

All I can say is "wow"

Thats crazy.....

Very excellent. One of the best I've read on here. Great job.

Lex that so totally RAWKS!!! Most excellent wording..makes one think ..how much more time dowe have...Bravo!!!

I love it, great job.

Thank you, everybody! This was one of those spur-of-the-moment things; they usually don't come out quite so coherently but I'm not too unhappy with it.

CCP -- to get that sort of reaction from someone who really IS a poet, and who has demonstrated it so consistently, is quite gratifying! Thank you very much!!