DOES SHE HAVE WARRANTS? ILLEGAL DRUGS? OPEN CONTAINERS OF?
This is how the world ends
one person at a time
one car careening into a wall
one driver falling free from her seat
one car smoking and a flick of flame
the asphalt slippery with gasoline
the stonework fence fractured
the police on the way.
This is how her world ends
and, yes, even though she tells us
I’m OK. I’m OK.
She’s not OK.
her hands shake, her words slur,
she can hardly stand straight,
walk straight, pimples of blood
outline her forehead, her neck
Her friends—are they her friends?—
Tell her to run, leave the car.
It’s all right.. It’s all right. It’s not all right.
Get everything out of your car.
Do you have dope? Have you been—
It does not matter. She goes to her car,
she rocks near it, she steadies herself,
she tries to start it—this is how
the world ends for her this night.
--Michael Brownstein
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