Smashup

occurs when car meets
tree around
for the longest time

mass of metal in the way.
Reason not necessary
to explain since
Dale went crashing
through passenger window

only worry at hospital
removing shards --
connecting bones

anxious – miracle needed
for his body back then.

Now he shuffles the streets
twenty years later
plucking bits of paper
from town curbs legs still
shaky like his voice

and salutes the sunshine
high above – a smile
forever etched upon his face.

© Richard L. Provencher