i was merely shrapnel from your downfall;
a hunk of tire on the shoulder and you spun into oncoming traffic
i wasn't strong enough to keep you going
my hands are still shaking
and now I'm rotting in the sun on the side of the highway with the rest of the roadkill
i watch with dead eyes the cars passing by,
none of them quite as shiny or fast as you
the city cleaned up the mess you left and barely survived;
they swept the glass, said your troubles would pass
but what about mine? what of the pieces you left behind?
nobody kissed death that day but lives were destroyed, people were crippled
had i still been human then i imagine i would've been driving the car that hit you first
the one that sent your head into the steeringwheel where the airbag should've been; the one that hurt you worst
but i wasn't human then, and I'm not sure i am now
i was just the ring of rubber you'd melted me into
i just kept you going and now I'm stuck because you are long gone,
probably thousands of miles away in a brand new car with brand new tires
i hope they're enough to get you to wherever it is you were headed in such a hurry
or maybe i hope that they give out more quickly than i did, that you're over the river this time and the barriers break
that concrete crumbles, falls away
and you get carried downstream to the ocean where you find the bottom nobody's touched
but maybe even at rock bottom you'd still be driving way too fast and maybe
you'd still leave a trail of roadkill in your wake.
all i know is that this rotting flesh is starting to smell in the summer heat and i feel like maybe this is where i belong