ANGRY POEM

Gleaming chrome, polished steel –

A proud grandfather and husband

Who has already survived so much

Is simply heading home

A prang, a bump, an inconsequential nothing

Late on a summer’s evening -

Things need to be done; details exchanged

This is how civilization functions, after all

And not knowing that

These are his last moments -

He gets out of the car

Gleaming chrome, sharpened steel –

Just another angry young man

As so many are in these mad days

With a blade for a friend

A stab, a thrust, a terrifying everything

Will taint a summer’s evening –

He needn’t do this; lives don’t have to change

If he keeps the rage and fury under control

And not yet knowing

That two lives are ending -

He gets out of the car

Martin A W Holmes, July 2015