Death On The Highway Poem by leonard daranjo

The tarmac was not thirsty
It did not drink – instead
The blood lay thick
Like fresh paint splashed around
One paw waved skywards, begging
But death was tardy and as insensitive
As the passers by.
I knew what I had to do
But I hadn’t the courage
To deliver mercy with a brick
Clenched in my fist
As that was the only option.
Before the spark
Could be humanely extinguished,
A racing car did the messy job
I moved on feverishly,
Wishing I had never seen this
Afraid of the stain it would leave behind.
Time has distanced that incident
But the moment lies lithographed
In my psyche


Based on a nightmarish memory: One day while driving home down a high way, I saw a puppy which had been run over but was not dead. Its paw was waving skywards but there was no sound. I couldn’t even lift it of the highway because of its condition and I did not how to put it out of its misery