Visceral Fear

Nothing left me colder,
Than the roar of your engine,
The squeal of your wheels,
As you screamed past my home.

Nothing made me tremble,
More than the memory,
Of my children playing on the lawn,
Two minutes before;
You tore through.
Lost control.
Hit the kerb.
Flew into my yard.
Demolished their toys,
Only to screech off,
In a filthy spray of mud and roses.

So lucky.
So close.
So violent.

The only time I would have killed


Based on a true incident years ago outside our old house. A few months later, the young man driving that car lost his life around the corner. Somebody’s little boy.

Copyright Pierre Nunns