All that remained was a stain on the pavement
No more news helicopters flying overhead
No more breaking headlines, they cut to commercial
No more jaws of life, prying open your mid-sized sedan
Just a tow truck dragging away your car
An ambulance fleeing
With your plastic cocooned body
Broken glass and debris
And that angry red stain
But I wonder if you were really a person like me
Or just another casual casualty on TV
How much life was in you?
Would you hug a stranger if they were crying?
Were you allergic to peanuts or shellfish?
Did you floss your teeth every night before bed?
Did you leave behind a widowed lover?
Did you believe in god?
I’ll offer up a few minutes of silence
And make up a memory of you in my mind
Swinging away in a park at age five
With ketchup stains on your jacket
And threadbare patches on the knees of your jeans
Then allow thoughts of you
To fade
Like the stain
