Stepped out of the Sunoco
onto the sidewalk to a scene
I never wanted to see.
A rabbit frozen in the center lane of Columbia Ave,
and no one is stopping. I can’t look away
from this indifferent universe as the rabbit
breaks for it, realizes it won’t make it,
and cuts back,
safe through the middle,
but out of time again on the outside lane
unable to comprehend anything
that big, that can move
that fast, or the distance
it can close in an instant.
The rabbit cuts again, but it is not enough,
caught by the rubber grip of the tires, its fur,
skin, and back legs pulled under,
it lays half flattened across the yellow line,
furiously bringing its front paws together,
praying to suddenly be in motion,
praying to go back to the life its known,
and it is hit, and hit again, and still.
I think I will never see this street the same,
and I avoid it for four days,
and when I have to drive by,
there’s still the stain, the viscera
pulped into the asphalt, the fur
melted into a tar.
Word Slurpee 