Opossum

A barely perceptible thud

Jarring me more than its size merits,

The searing second image, two glossy eyes

Ghostly white in unforgiving headlights,

Scrutinizing the silent passenger who sits,

Stares back for this heartbeat but next finds

No eyes staring back, gone in an illustrious,

Imagined second, now the idea of surreal

Intimacy haunts, the specter twisted under

Wheels, waiting in sticky blood for the next car

To maul already matted fur, this car, hurtling

Murder weapon has long passed, no marks,

Not even a stain of that crimson life I saw

So vividly in the rearview mirror, verifying

That opossum were ever there, ever stared,

Ever died in the moonlit road to Iowa,

I checked the merciless metal, but nothing

Was left, so unlike the brutal screeching,

Scratching impact of reckless humans seeking

Insurance scam payouts, the greed leaving behind

Broken metal, scarred side doors, angry shouts,

A thud reverberating, but here along the quiet

Highway a white, silent creature strays too far

Into the unstoppable path of another violent

Car, slips under, and we keep driving.