I had forgotten yesterday
The human-barbecue stink of it, all metal and blood
Blackened, twisted hulk of the mangled car
Somehow with the remains of the front end
Pointing skyward, headlights blind sockets
The moans of our wounded, broken and bells rung
Medics bustling like angel bees, and me feeling useless
Finally settling on cleaning up the refuse
Used morphine syrettes, field dressing packages, latex gloves
A bandage that peeled up from the pool of coagulating arterial blood
Like it was dropped in a puddle of congealed ketchup
A glance at the shockingly red stain on the sandy median
All from some eight-year-old kid, they said
A look at the pockmarked and perforated houses
Wondering how bad it is inside
Chunks of the driver everywhere--
A gristly lump behind the ruined steering column;
Something that might have been a hip joint
Lying glistening in the road
The rest of the guy just quarter-sized kibbles and bits
Distributed over a 25-meter radius
Doc kicks an unidentifiable nub
"It rolls!" he says, and we both laugh
He steps on it with the toe of his boot
Something yellowish, like spicy mustard but
The consistency of canned cheese squirts out
He gags, we stop--
How could I not have remembered yesterday,
And how will I ever forget?

02/04/2005

Posted on 02/04/2005
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