the crash couldn’t have been helped;
we were high on stars and drunk on being young
leaving our friends laughing in the dust, we drove
to surreal nostalgic soundtracks
down your midnight road to nowhere
and when we hit ninety i thought of everyone and our lives
and was not afraid
because i understand
the need to race one’s remaining minutes
to go so fast you can no longer think
and with our hearts beating in our throats you took the corner
we blessed each other softly and carelessly
lost control
and for a moment i braced myself
and this time, time did slow down
enough to catch your headlights reflecting on
each and every falling leaf in front of us
as the trees we hit trembled
and a moment later the joy came
because
we are still alive!
laughing and whooping at the diamond sky
i was a victory because i felt and loved
and i was there to feel and love
for a few more minutes, at least

and it was good.