Life Is Long Until It's Not
Jack Padgett
I was never scared of the open road
but that was before gravity shifted
and my duffel bag hit the roof of
my Prius shortly before my head
did. All of a sudden right is le-
ft and left is right and up and
down no longer exist and all th-
at is left is the cardiograph buzz
of helicopter propellers lodged in
my ears and I think I’m screaming
but it’s hard to be sure over the dro-
ne of my judgment drawing
near and the wind whistling across
my fractured dashboard that sounds
like a catcall from God. I feel as
though I should probably consi-
der my loved ones but it’s hard to
do as I’m too preoccupied with
the way the sun looks as it’s spin-
ning at the speed of the gleaming
flares it emits which glint off the
shards of my rearview mirror as I
try to throw an arm across the bri-
dge of my nose to shield my cor-
neas but it’s as though they are go
-ne and I have been left limbless
so I leave them uncovered and wa
-it for my life to flash before th
-em but it doesn’t flash it simply
stretches until every second is
the time it takes for me to realize
that my road ends where this one
continues and while the future I
could have had is my friend
the pavement is not as it—
Spring, 2018 Issue