Almost every day I do something
That could take me out for good
Not thinking of the gravity
Or even if I could
It’s not that I want out yet
I just need to do this thing
I need to risk my life
It’s part of my routine
But now I think a little more
Of the possibility
That death could take me today
That this time it could be me
Because yesterday it was you that died
Doing what I do now
Your memory floats around in my mind
And I have to keep moving somehow
Can I even hide in a place
Where Thanatos* can’t find me
Can I even stop living
Because it’s living that will kill me
So I leave this morning and I think of you
And hope I return home soon
That the asphalt won’t be my final bed
That the highway won’t lead to my tomb
© Ruby Neumann
Poet’s Note
Written January 7, 2024. Thinking today of the human road kill that has left a mark on my life. I can’t even look at a splattered bug on my windshield and not think of them. It pains me to think that every day we do things that can take us out, because we remember those who were taken out by doing the same thing. I have skydived and bungee jumped… and it’s driving my truck that is the greater risk to my life.
* Thanatos is the greek God who escorted people from the place where they died to the underworld, the realm of Hades.
