Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Like a Lightning Crash

Photo by Andy Magee



Respecting the rain is not an observation that one does automatically like waving to a passerby or holding the door for another.  It is an appreciation one acquires when experience has led them to a knowledge that before did not exist.  This true regard does not come slowly like guitar lessons nor learning to love martinis, it is a split second shift of knowing.  Fast like a lightning crash it happens, the moment that the wheels and the road no longer have the right connection.  Looking back in slow motion, it is almost like a dance; a glide to the left and then maybe another swift move to the right, but when it happens, it is NO dance!  One finds them self screaming and holding the wheel as if it were the ledge of a building they were about to fall off of.  And it is like a fall, a horrible fall.  Once the movement has stopped, depending on what the object of destination is.  It could be a road sign, a ditch or another car even, but it all happens too fast for complete recall. You just know when it is over you had no control of the outcome.  No control at all!  From that moment forward you never take driving in the rain lightly.  You have a new found respect for the relationship between a wet road and your car. 



There are moments in life
that change the way
we see the road ahead.
A briliant light of knowing
that peirces through
our blindness
like headlights
in the night
it is a hearkening
that is birthed
not from words
but deeds
life's way where
the thud of a fall
can knock the sense
into a soul faster
than any words
could ever prove
the truth.




23 comments:

  1. It's true. We love to play the edge, skirt it, push it, damn near dare it.
    Then we become numb to the danger by our arrogance.
    Til one day we slip, slide~lose control. Then stop just short of the fall.
    Then~for awhile~we grow careful, wary. But onl for awhile
    We don't know what's over the edge. Those that have gone have never come back to tell us.
    Great wisdom, Carrie

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  2. This is true .... it present a stark reality of life ... well written !!!

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  3. "...the thud of a fall
    can knock the sense
    into a soul faster
    than any words
    could ever prove
    the truth."

    These words alone are so wise! I was taking a break from writing just now, and came to your poem first. Odd, that I just wrote 11 short epigrams regarding "truth." This last line of yours beats them all!! :)

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  4. Very intense, Carrie, i loved it. Kept thinking of an old Slim Dusty song, " The Lights on The Hill", have a merry xmas, mate

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  5. Yes, I've had that fall, and that rainy, slippery car ride. Well done.

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  6. yikes- very intense indeed Carrie-well descripted!
    Be safe this holiday and Happy New Year!

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  7. Dear Carrie,
    I am still in a state of shock over the horrifying tragedy in CT ... those precious lives. A moment in life that changes the way we view things.
    Happy Holidays, my dear.

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  8. ..wisest of words you weaved here Carrie... there's always something in your works that are so likable and adorable... excellent!

    smiles... and a Happy Holiday to you & family...

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  9. I agree about roads, Carrie. There are always unforeseen things....especially in rain....and snow. We can head for our destination and do as much as we can possibly do to see that we get there. But we don't really know until we arrive.

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  10. have been there...we get in such a rush...around here it is deer as much as rain and if you dont expect it you wont be ready when it hits....somethings i dont know that we will be ever ready for...

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  11. I know that fall and I'll always remember the date - it was on my parents anniversary! Their gift was a crumpled up car! Oops.

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  12. Yes, I like the lightning analogy! and how it can shock us quick and hard enough that we clearly the truth of our situation! thanks.

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  13. Carrie--I loved this, especially the ending--life's knocks

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  14. you are such a beautiful writer...I am sure you will accomplish some of those publishing desires on your bucket list...many blessings

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  15. Literally and metaphorically so true, and well put.

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  16. This is acutely and beautifully clear. My moment of realization was when I was a passenger in a friend's Porche. We were driving to the airport to both catch the same flight to our hometown for Thanksgiving. It was a miserably stormy night on the Oregon freeways. At one point she said to me, "We are hydroplaning right now!" I had no idea what she was talking about until she explained to me that her tires were literally skating on water about an inch off the pavement and she had no control. She thought is was very exciting. I thought I'd never taste my mother's mince pie again!

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  17. yes, so relevant regarding this last week ...

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  18. some things must be experienced to truly be learned. wonderfully written poem!

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  19. This is so accurately portrayed~ I have witnessed and encountered this many times! YOU put it so well~
    It awakens us and reminds us to live for the now, enJOY the beauty of today!!! Well Done

    come visit me...surprise!!!

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  20. I had a hydroplaning moment just this morning on my way to work - going over 70 mph. Yikes! Theoretically, this experience should teach me to respect the rain. Theoretically :)

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  21. ...forgot to add that I love your header!

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"Our best thoughts come from others." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson