Dad and the Red Light
by Bill Yarrow
My father is twenty-two years old. He's
stopped at a light at Broad and Market.
He sees a man in a tan jacket start to cross
in front of him. All of a sudden, the man
disappears. The light turns green. Confused,
my father gets out and walks to the front
of his car. A guy is face down on the ground,
his head wedged in front of the passenger wheel.
He selected my father as his agent of suicide.
I've been held hostage by this story ever since
I was told it when I was fourteen or so. My dad
was trying to teach me the importance of checking
things out. Then I saw, all his life, wannabe suicides
flit towards him like moths. He saved them all.
stopped at a light at Broad and Market.
He sees a man in a tan jacket start to cross
in front of him. All of a sudden, the man
disappears. The light turns green. Confused,
my father gets out and walks to the front
of his car. A guy is face down on the ground,
his head wedged in front of the passenger wheel.
He selected my father as his agent of suicide.
I've been held hostage by this story ever since
I was told it when I was fourteen or so. My dad
was trying to teach me the importance of checking
things out. Then I saw, all his life, wannabe suicides
flit towards him like moths. He saved them all.
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Author's Note
This poem appeared as part of a 2010 e-book entitled "Wound Jewelry" published by new aesthetic.
The poem appears in Pointed Sentences (BlazeVOX, 2012).
Other stories by Bill Yarrow
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My heart stopped beating reading the first stanza, then nearly broke at the last line. *
yikes, Bill, great one *
* "My dad was trying to teach me the importance of checking
things out."
Quite powerful, Bill.
I'll never be able to squash a moth again. Great story. *
Bill, the story in this poem is a real stunner. So much so that it seems to fight in its lines. What is here? The last lines are beautifully mysterious, a kind of novel no one's ever seen.
*
Strong poem. Like the last line.
Damn fine, Bill. I like the matter of fact way it is told while still revealing things at the end. Sure fire * .
What a terse, dark narrative poem, Bill. Very powerful. -- * Q
oh Bill this is so wonderful. Yes, great and very effective as always. I will read this a few times today.
You're so good at the invitation to come into the poem and then you present the thing in all its originality and terrible beauty.Great stuff. You always deliver the goods.
Very good, Bill. Very.