Accidents Poem by Abraham de la Torre

A carpenter falls
Off his easy rider
The shock absorbers
Are seconds too
He is hurt badly
The ambulance is
Serious with its siren
There is an impulse
To remember S.W.A.T. reruns
There is a fire drill
One Pakistani comes
Out of the dormitory
With a dour face
The one closed door
Remains shut
He has a hard-on
The Shah
Does not deliver
The hostages
Is sclerosis what
Language for thanks
The UPI says
At ten-thirty
In the morning
Time stands
With a vulture calm
In the desert
A bedouin in nightdress
Sends sleepless songs
To Islamic skies
It is a firmament
Devoid of flight
For 747s
He needs crutches
The wailing wanes
The hands are useless
The Shah is cremated
The praying ceases
A Saudia crashes
For a while.