Friday, July 1, 2011

White Crosses & Plastic Carnations

By the side of highways
     with precisely engineered curves
stand white crosses
     like cemeteries
     are cemeteries
no bodies are buried here
however death is surely present
          in the night
          out of the dark
          lights flashing
          blue, red, and white
          sizzling flares
          slow down
          a wave on through
          carefully passing other’s passing
          shining wrecks, tangled metal
          the air is thick with
          alcohol fumed curses
          a child’s cry
          a last breath expelled
                   unhh!
The crosses are always white
sometimes flowered
real flowers at first
then plastic (they last longer)
on a lonely desert highway
the crosses are enshrined
     grottoes of stone (they last longer)
but here on this spot
a white cross with
     red plastic carnations
     forming letters
     a “D”, an “A” and a “D”

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