Flinging It

I watched one vehicle turn left,

nearly into the path of another.

It wasn't so much a near-miss,

as the airlines have coined it,

as it was an opportunity

for something to go wrong.

Rather than instinctively braking

to remedy the situation,

the oncoming driver threw her left hand

out her window, curling it

over the roof of her car,

and flung her middle finger

toward the now-missed

(no thanks to her),

already-turned truck.

No horn, no scream,

just the central projectile

from her manual five-shooter.

She looked like a cowgirl

in a 1950s B-movie, slinging bullets

toward the bad guys.

Is this what our society has come to –

rage on-demand, against anyone

who dares to make choices

that might inconvenience or impede us?

Grace, O Grace, to where has

your gift been exiled?

 

Photo by Todd Jenkins

© 2014 Todd Jenkins