Cool of early evening
Sharp edges of day meld together
Grooving to groovy sounds from 60s

I speed North on Wantaugh Parkway
Veer sharply right onto that long sweet arc of ramp
Merging into Southern State

Tease myself with virtual G-forces
In the imagined cockpit of a P-51 Mustang
Rolling into steep dive to strafe Okinawa beachhead

Damn! As I top the rise
A flurry of brake lights quickly test the limits
Of my real-time skills and my Honda's ABS

Pissed! My plan thwarted to be on time
While traffic assumes normal conditions:
Clogged backed-up stop and slow-go creep

Flashing lights of state trooper
Squeeze traffic from three lanes to one
Around cars helter-skelter in roadway

Several people hold back
A tearful woman who strains against them
With a scream frozen on her face

On ground beside open-doored car
Lies a pot-bellied figure
One knee awkwardly bent

Three persons cluster about--frantic CPR motions
The other leg spasmodically flops
As despite my horror I stare

A police helicopter
Crazily tilts out of rose-tinted clouds
Thump-whump whirling dust

My heart pounds
Sweat pours off face
Breathing short and shallow

And for a spell
I am caught again
In that other place

When
Lush green was jungle
Not late blooming Spring

When
Blood and dust commingled
Not tar and exhaust

When
Terror rode each pulsebeat
When
Screechings of incoming

Last

For

Ever