Billy Marshall Stoneking Poet Free verse

The Crime

(for Neil)

I wonder if you remember,
the dog you killed that day
on the way back from the Stony Rises?

You were driving, talking about
yourself, I think,
or maybe you were singing along
to some song on the radio.

Up ahead, the boy on a bicycle
pedaled against the wind,
dog by his side.

It happened so quickly,
you were driving so fast
you nearly didn’t stop,
thinking, hoping, perhaps,
that you’d only imagined it.

When we backed up the boy was
on his knees, hands hovering over
the dead animal.

"Sorry about that, mate,"
was all you could say.

Fighting back tears and disbelief
the boy looked up:

"Oh, that’s all right," he said.

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