R T A

They didn't see the collision coming

They were always coasting

Never looking with their eyes

Choosing always to stand

On the sideline where people were talking

They were all strangers

Huddled together under a january sky

Bodies spewed their contents

Emptied handbags

Broken cellphones

Some still ringing

While they stood watching

Waiting for someone to speak

Then the yellow coats arrived

sirens wailing lights flashing

Picking through the pieces

Looking for signs of life

No one was prepared for this

This sudden collision

A rainbow of clothes scattered

Blood splattered faces

She asked for her mother

But it was to late.

They gathered up the bodies

Some bundled under red blankets

Some faces hidden

No record of who they had been

Or where they were going

The collision happened

Then suddenly the crowd dispersed

The siren screamed into the distant

Like a last cry

Soon to be forgotten

[some would be later identified by their teeth]

yvette m smith jan 09

poem by Yvette Smith
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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