In the Car With My Daughter
Sensitive soul, regretting the loss of life
on the windshield, wondering if bug wives
and children grieve for them.
She retreats into melancholic
silence as they continue
to ping and splat. I turn
on the radio to drown it out.
She shifts in her seat to stare
through the side window, avoiding
the carnage, and asks me,
are we all waiting, unaware
until stricken down like the bugs?
I tell her, yes. So, savor the flight
before the impact.
Published in Annals of Internal Medicine, Volume 170, Number 12
Lynette Lamp 