I Think of You When I Ride By Roadkill

I think of you when I ride by roadkill -
It’s nothing macabre…

Something innocent of civilized behavior
caught under a tire, or smacked on a bumper;
something unnatural running through its world.

A tar scar upon the trail of being a decent human being,
a lazy road winding through all sorts of shit. And something gets hit…

Blindsided by some huge fucking truck that doesn’t even belong on a road like that,
happening so quickly that I just think, “Aw hell, I hope it was already dead…”
But in my head I suppose I expected it. I know you did.

And I’m there thinking to myself “Aw hell, what if I crossed first?”
and my buddy is there all twisted up in the middle of the road;

Okay maybe it’s macabre…

But it’s not the gore that inspires thoughts of you, it’s the pity I feel.
What was I going to do? Tear up the roads? I’m sure you’d still speed…

To heed the signs on the side of the road with the cute fucking animals
and big fucking letters SLOW DOWN!

Nah, that’d make too much sense.

So when I ride by roadkill, I feel sorry for everyone involved-
the road’s been there a while, but so have animals. I think it’s too petty to compare the two though.

I pity the damn thing that crossed at just the wrong time; and I pity the driver whether they felt bad or not
It’s a shitty thing to happen either way.

Ultimately I just think to myself, “It’s a damned shame.”

Samuel Tillman ✓