The dead squirrel

middle of the road

lifeless

run over scampering for safety 

unaware

of giant monster that 

squashes helpless things into nothingness

no longer darting as if driven by ions

or 

racing up tree trunks 

or skipping along branches in search of an acorn,

 a darting flash-gone-

inert, snuffed out, instant death

a photograph;  a far away land,  dirt road, car-less,

a child lifeless, lying alone, distant bystanders, no wailing by his side

 terror has vanished from cherubic face

eyes closed, asleep , feeling nothing,  in the world of darkness,

like the  squirrel

a monster, unseen and sudden,

squeezed  flesh and bones into oblivion

Morning, father and daughter off to school- holding hands,

care-free  eyes, exuberant, laughing, skipping along  not to keep pace

but to keep alive the joy of being alive