Big Tent Poetry (9/13) – The Accident Aftermath

Posted by Mark on September 16, 2010 in Big Tent Poetry, Drafts, Poetry | Short Link

Last month, my wife and I were in a motorcycle accident.  She suffered a broken ankle, the bike took some cosmetic damage and I took a pretty good beating internally.  I tell you this not for sympathy, but to put the poem I wrote into some context.  My lovely wife will recover as will I.  Next Spring will find us back on the motorcycle as well.

—-

The Accident Aftermath

Three months of temporary pain
ribs cracked near the backbone

I tire of the answer to
    the what happened question

Half-eaten memories that
    I long to embellish
or recover from the debris
    of the accident
        that unknown someones
        cleaned up.

—-
For Big Tent Poetry Monday Prompt (9/13)

  • Marsha

    Very effective use of stark words. Love backbone and the phrase "that unknown someones cleaned up"

    • http://radio-nowhere.org/nb/ RadioNowhere

      Thank you, Marsha….

  • http://coyotemercury.com/ James

    Wow, I'm glad you guys are okay.

    The notion of wanting to embellish the memories is a powerful one and comes nicely after the line about tiring of telling the story over and over.

    • http://radio-nowhere.org/nb/ RadioNowhere

      Thanks, James. I sometimes wish I would just type up an explanation and hand it out to people who don't know…

  • 1sojournal

    Mark, glad to hear you both will be fine. Like the poem and its starkness. Very human, that desire to embellish, and balances well both the beginning and end of the poem.

    Elizabeth

    • http://radio-nowhere.org/nb/ RadioNowhere

      Thank you, Elizabeth….

  • derrick2

    Good to know you are both OK. I too like that last line. Wanting to search through the debris to recover a full picture of what really happened is very understandable.

  • http://blogginwithamanda.com amanda

    I am sorry you had to reflect on a true life experience such as this, but your work for the prompt is well done. I hope you're both on the mend.

  • gautami tripathy

    Glad to know you are going to be ok. The starkness enhances it..

    timeless flies search for fries

  • http://rallentanda.blogspot.com Rallentanda

    Good use of the words . The brevity gave the poem more impact. Glad you are both OK.

  • Jingle

    best wishes.
    lovely done!

  • http://juliejordanscott.typepad.com/jjspoetry/ Julie Jordan Scott

    Ohhh… I love these lines:

    >>> Half-eaten mem­o­ries that
    I long to embell­ish

    Sorry to hear of the accident, Mark….

  • http://northernwall.blogspot.com christopher

    Accidents. They come in all sorts of shapes. Hard to make sense of them The consequences accumulate. Now my life is largely what it is because of them. I took this poem a little personal.

  • vivinfrance

    I hope you will be able to move on from the half-eaten memories – at least from the horrors of flashbacks. You have written a brave poem, and I salute you.

  • Marianv

    A poem from an accident — good use of the words.

  • Jingle

    my entry is here

    thanks for reading!

  • Carolee

    sorry about your accident! it makes a great subject for this poem, however. :(

    wonderful how you are able to capture so many sides of it in a small space. and i like how it jumps between stanzas.

  • http://firsttumblewords.blogspot.com Tumblewords

    A truly wonderful piece about a not so wonderful experience. Glad you are both healing and feeling well enough to commit to the spring's rides. Well done poem.

  • pieceofpie

    the marvelous madness of a bike ride… no matter the precautions we sometimes tumble…. it is good to hear apart from the pain inflicted all is going to be well come spring…. especially dig the last two lines… i always wonder who cleans up b/c there's always a few pieces left behind to make one ponder…

  • http://stoneymoss.org Deb

    So glad to read you.

    This compact poem is a terrific rendering of what it is like to re-tell something that is such a fragment of experience, on so many levels. I can only explain what I mean by reading your poem again. Which is another way of saying it is a hell of a poem. :-)

  • tillybud

    I love the phrase 'unknown someones'.

    Glad to hear you are both okay.

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