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A FEW SPLIT SECONDS


A deer
not yet realizing it's dead
pirouettes down the remaining length of 
my flinching pickup



Tires scribble outside the lines



With all my might
I will the truck to turn
like league bowlers use body English
to  curve their bowling balls

after the release



but travel a physics-determined path
as a passenger
along for the ride
to its end
while accusing an unlikely omniscient being
You have got to be kidding me



After the gravel lands
After the silence and me still breathing
After the curious stop to see -
kind enough to help
as they
understandably

revel in their luck



That cop
who has seen it all before
Asks me questions I can understand
and like some guardian angel
guides me out of my paralysis
and actually says

Just doing my job



The tow truck driver
thinks city folk need to
keep their eyes open and pay more attention
but I think tow truck drivers
own and operate
deer farms




Kyle said
It's clear you aren't supposed to buy a Ranger
But I think sometimes that's just what happens
when you try to see the Aurora Borealis


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