I was traveling down the road <br />On a pleasant Sunday afternoon <br />Music on the radio <br />My hands firmly on the wheel <br />When suddenly <br />The van I was following swerved to the right <br />A wall of gray appeared in front of my windshield <br />Slammed into me like a hammer <br />A second later, the car behind <br />Stepping on the brakes <br />Plowed into my rear. <br />Stunned <br />I took two deep breaths <br />And staggered out the door… <br /> <br />No one was hurt—only minor cuts and bruises <br />But the cars were demolished. <br />It seems a trailer had broken from its rig <br />Careened into my lane and smashed into my car. <br />Had the angle been slightly different, I might have been <br /> <br />Decapitated. <br /> <br />There was no time to avoid the impact. <br />Nothing I could have done. <br />I was lucky to be alive. <br />Or unlucky that the trailer came unhitched. <br />Or was it luck at all to be on this particular road <br />At this particular moment in time? <br /> <br />In the way of the world <br />There will always be questions <br />Without answer <br />Things that are beyond our comprehension <br />Forces over which we have <br />No control. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />(Previously published in Some Words: A Place For Poetry, Nov - Dec '99)<br /><br />Laurence Overmire<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/no-control-2/
