The Escape Pod

It was the silence I feared;

thick and oily and black as ink.

It embraced me like a lover,

stroking my downy cheek.

 

The road was yards away,

but I couldn’t hear the traffic.

Everything sounded white.

The cars; the wind; the havoc.

 

I saw only the car,

upside down, wheels spinning;

a helpless turtle belching smoke.

My horror was just beginning.

 

It was the blood that drew me on.

A beacon of fear.

I came upon her with burglar’s feet

and knelt so very near.

 

I did not know

she lay dying.

I saw tears.

She was crying.

 

I took her hand.

She took mine.

She said, “please don’t leave”.

I replied in kind.

 

I watched her eyes.

They opened wide.

Her soul escaped,

somewhere outside.

 

Her hand went limp.

So did mine.

She lay still.

I kept crying.