Speed

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BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Speed

#1 Post by BobBradshaw » 15 Sep 2022, 20:24

Speed

I yawned, stared out the windows
of dad's station wagon--
his car crawling

forward through years
piled behind each other like traffic
during Christmas holidays.

I’m not sure when things
sped up—elementary school maybe.
Decades whizzed by

like a Saker falcon
leaving behind a traffic
of geese.

Now I wake, blink,
and it’s mid afternoon.
“Everything breaks down,”

my cardiologist warns me;
“More and more parts
will fail.

At this age your heart
needs to be babied.”

The dolt! I've plenty of mileage left
and swing my car's wheel
wildly to the right

—horns blaring
drivers saluting me
with their middle fingers

as another year drifts
like a lost bumper
in my rear view mirror.

The engine begins
to lisp steam,
the brakes failing,

everything falling apart
as my front left tire
in a final gasp bursts,

fluttering wildly
like my fibrillating heart.

Death, hidden under a bridge
with a radar gun
in his hand, shrugs;

another warned driver
falls into his speed
trap.

User avatar
Billy
Posts: 1384
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 10:56

Re: Speed

#2 Post by Billy » 17 Sep 2022, 00:15

Such a fun poem with all usual Bob inimitable similes and authentic voice.

BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Re: Speed

#3 Post by BobBradshaw » 17 Sep 2022, 20:26

Thanks Billy for the kind words. I'm glad it was fun.

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