When The Light Goes Out

The parents died in a car crash in New York. They were
both so young, only twenty-one years old each. She was
pregnant with their first child. The driver and passenger
of the car that hit them both fled the scene on foot. How
stupid a thing to do these days. It is only a matter of time
before they are caught and rightfully vilified by the press
and public. The husband and wife were taken to separate
hospitals were they died apart from one another. They
managed to save the unborn child from the womb of its
dead mother. They said the child was in critical condition
yesterday. The headline of the news this morning said
the baby had died. How many more today? Most will be
unknown. Most will be unmourned by the world. One life,
one-hundred lives, the extinguishing of a flame too soon,
but when is ever the right time for us?

Everyday Ballet

Motion and velocity create a dazzling display
as we peer through glass. Restraints fix us 
firmly to the seat. If the unfortunate and 
unforeseen were to occur, would the pain
be any less? A constellation of fractured
prisms would populate the asphalt, a perfect
mirror of the heavens. What celestial body
would you be? Jupiter or Saturn, Mercury
or Mars? Sirens screeching ever closer.