Incident On Highway 12, Saskatchewan 1977

INCIDENT ON HIGHWAY 12, SASKATCHEWAN 1977 Black ice early morning I heard no radio warning Truck coming east at sixty Me heading west at seventy. Closing at two hundred feet Every second of my heartbeat, Ten seconds from now we will meet At a finish line : dead heat. Black ice is always a surprise Unseen with the eyes - Begin to spin out of control Drawn choking into that black hole. Try to correct - impossible, The surface of treachery’s invisible. Aim for the ditch? Brake? I can do nothing but slide as a snake. Hold my breath to think - He’ll be on me in a blink - I slowly spiral into the oncoming fate - He can do nothing but jack-knife it. A voice shouts out loud for aid - I’m afraid it’s my voice. God isn’t afraid. At that moment I uncovered What I’d once believed and covered : The pretended atheist dropped His child’s toy unwanted: I suddenly outgrew it In a slow-mo second split. I missed the truck by a yard or so. About one fiftieth of a second to go. I see the trucker’s helpless face. Still makes me shiver, can’t erase.