A poem by Greg McGee. 1/1/2019
(This is a true story, of what happened to me on New Years Morning, 2019 at about 1:20 A.M.)
Driving by a crescent moon.
A dark highway on New Year’s Eve.
The whole world at a party.
Except for James and me.
Suddenly all was whiteness.
I couldn’t even see my nose!
Then I saw some taillights.
A mountain of cars in the road.
Got my Chevy to stop rolling
With only an inch to spare.
We smiled at our good fortune
As a car took off the mirror.
The drivers face in horror
Another car shoved him past.
Then a police car flying by.
Landing, sliding fast.
There’s something strangely satisfying
In the sound of crashing cars.
A screechy, screaming, crunchy thud.
Then the silence of the dead.
There was whirring just behind me
on the slippery street.
I held my head to contemplate.
Is this the end for me?
Then came the first impact.
Then two or three or more.
Screechy crunching bing bang bam!
Like bowling pins in love.
Then the awful silence.
Silence . . . But.
No pearly gates or fiery lake!
Because I was not dead!
I looked around for James,
And he too had survived!
Maniacally we laughed in glee:
“I’M ALIVE! I’M ALIVE!”
We jumped and ran into the fog
Nowhere in this cloud was safe.
Steel monsters were still flying!
Smashing all over the place.
As I surveyed the carnage
And the weeping and the blood
Heaps of steaming metal
Boots crunching glass and mud.
A sleeping baby, in a car seat
Lights of amber, green and blue.
Shivering lovers in the mist
Whispering “I love you.”
A frantic fireman with jaws of life
Fifty cars had crashed!
But he found no takers.
Not a single life had passed!
Later I called my sister
To tell her I was still here.
She said she had been praying
Just this very eve.
And that she’d sent some angels
To keep me from all harm.
Well, I didn’t have a scratch!
So that worked just like a charm!
Wailing Sirens, radio chatter
The barking of a dog.
I wonder: If my Sis had asked,
What else could angels do with fog?
I appreciate these angels, you bet I do.
Keep ‘em flying along my way.
But next time, could you ask them to lift the fog?
It’d save a lot of pain.
