Winning Poetry

Another little winner, this time free verse poetry, in the shape of a piece called Roadkill.  This recently won the One Word Challenge over at Writer's Talkback.  It's a dark piece, and needs no explanation.  And as always, it deals with a central theme, this time death and loss, and it makes no excuses.


Roadkill

Fresh from the oppressive grip
Of an oily back night, the heavy jab
Of a thankless job, the anguish;
Battling through the flashing lights
Parting the dusk and pulling back
The protective drapes of life
Scraping up the viscera
And hoisting the remnants for the kin
Sealing bags of personal things
Waiting for the adrenaline to kick in.
Cold frost through the veins
Watching everything unfurl
Slow, like time-lapse, frame by frame
Pressing against urgent cries
Mingling with the noise and fear
Clinging low to the road;
It sported a spiteful sheen
A child’s bloody spill
Fresh kill
Reflecting bright in the light.
And slinking from the awful sight
Quietly leaving behind
Mangled metal and dulled chrome
The sticky russet pools
That covered a broken toy, a tiny shoe
And bits of Mummy too
Packing away another night
Looking into the driver’s pallid face
The dulled eyes and passive stare
Of Daddy, the drunk; a disgrace.