It’s on the same day I saw a
Porsche run into a pedestrian,
left lying there on his side

people went
to sit by him
while others pulled away,
               not the blankets, but
the comfort offered by strangers,
               how strange
was the estrangement
               as we, as I watched
from the bus, screaming and calling 911

Porsche driver, not approaching
the person hurt there,
               the person he actually killed
after tailing a car, the car that
               finally slammed on its brakes in the rain,
everywhere wet and uneasy from
               pushing up so hard
aggressive in the expensive,
               hateful car that
hydroplaned onto
               the curb populated
and riddled with people –
               you were driving so fast
through the intersection /

I remember your shorts
               and tennis shoes
through the slippery rain,
               your arrogance, &
you weren’t even crying.

All day long, I reminded myself
that this could have been me –
               hit someone with my car,
hurt someone
               not meaning to

and then back on the bus,
               a different line at the end of
the day and today, that
               day, with lots of
chatter from a mechanic
               talking to all the passengers
warning us that
               even though the freeway
is the most hazardous place on earth,
               the thing that causes
the greatest loss, the loss he
                                   calls death,

                                   is speed

that the most dangerous thing is
               to change a tire on the freeway
having trained hundreds
               how to do this in his lifetime
                                    and here to talk about it

I saw how proud he was
               to be a teacher,
but maybe he was more proud
               to be alive
knowing that skillfulness
               isn’t everywhere
and ignored
               just the same

I feel the months of death mounting
between gunshots and machinery
               cars and guns,
               between
Buffalo and Uvalde
               all of these people
               all of these children

                                   we are told that officers made the wrong call
               also known as the wrong decision

and I recall what the mechanic said about speed
knowing how it kills,
thinking how quickly speed can save
               just as easily as it does otherwise
knowing how many guns
               lived in a place
                                   that stood by and held silent