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driving home from the city

there was an overturned semi on an overpass

like you hear about on the radio

but never really see.

it was carrying mangoes.

cascading down a bank and strewn across the highway

exploded from their boxes

in heaps of green-red and orange-yellow

that would never make it to the store.

they looked so helpless.

i don't know why i didn't stop and pick some up

laying there like free samples

or gold bullion

or a drunken kiss.

so easy and so good.

i kept on driving.

cgroom: I really like this a lot because it captures a how it feels to pass through one of those moments of potential regret. cgroom: Thought -- consider expressing this to the present tense. It may be even more powerful to be along in the moment of noticing, especially for the last line. mwirth: Curious: did this really happen to you? (Either way, it's a great little snippet of life to write about.) gabriel: Chris, have you heard Harry Chapin's "30,000 Pounds of Bananas"? I'm left thinking, "Yes, we have no mangoes, no mangoes in Scranton, PA..." samira: Funny, Gabe, becasue that is exactly what I thought about as well. Chris, I like this because it is straightforward and unmetaphoric until almost the end, which makes the image of the bullion and kiss much more vivid. cfanjul: yah, this did actually happen... sadly, i haven't written anything purely imaginary in a long time. putting it in the present would take away from the reflective nature, i think. and i've heard *of* the banana song, but the fact of its recording is like learning that those songs on bugs bunny were from *real* operas. as for the final metaphors, i'm glad they worked - i've been trying to figure out how prose poets slip abstractions into every-day life stuff, and not make it too jolting. Add comment