Cliche

———

This isn’t going to be one of those stories
with a record scratch freeze frame
With me lurching headlong into that tree
And I say you’re wondering how I got here

In hindsight I would have been better off
Blood streaming down my face, concussed and afraid to move
After repeatedly making my apologies to you
If I staggered back home and locked the door

But no

Instead we took the ambulance to the hospital
You rode back home to where you live
I laid awake, head ringing like a gong

The next day we did it all again
Funny, you think I would have seen the oil slick
The second time around