Boom! Crash! Smash!

Deepa Bharath

Car crashes are never fun. On an average, I write about a dozen of

them every month. Some are fatal, a few result in serious injuries,

and others are ones where people are lucky enough to get away without

any injuries.

When I went to the scene of a car crash in Newport Beach on

Wednesday afternoon, I’ll say I had no intention of writing a poem

about it. A man, who had apparently fallen asleep at the wheel, had

driven his car through a neighbor’s front yard, crashing into the

home.

It was a serious accident that could have had far graver

consequences. But it didn’t. No one was hurt, and everyone left the

scene on good terms. When I got back to the office, I reviewed my

notes and tried to reconstruct the incident. As I started writing, it

turned into a poem. And that’s the truth.

I’m not a big fan nor have I ever been a fan of journalists

spouting poetry. I agree with British poet Matthew Arnold that

“Journalism is literature written in a hurry.” Here at work, I don’t

fancy myself a writer crafting literary masterpieces. I’m just your

everyday reporter who wants to present information in a logical,

readable format. And sometimes, I try to make it interesting for my

readers.

This attempt at narrative poetry is not to flaunt my ability to

rhyme words or to make light of these people’s problems. It’s simply

an experiment and a tired reporter’s desperate effort to break free

from the self-imposed shackles of humdrum, familiar prose.

Marlene Gavelin thought it was an earthquake

As she saw the vase in her room drop and break.

Seconds ago, she’d heard a big boom

And thought trees had fallen outside her room.

But then she came out and saw

Her neighbor Robert Wood get out of his car.

The front of his burgundy Cadillac Seville was smashed,

The house was cracked where the car had crashed.

It happened in the 1700 block of Candlestick Lane,

And there was one broken window pane.

Two small palms were plucked by the root,

To concerned neighbors, it wasn’t a hoot.

The car had swerved

Where the road curved

And had sliced through the front yard

Hitting the corner of the house really hard.

Newport Beach police said no one was hurt

Gavelin seemed relieved and polite, hardly curt.

There were two kids in the house, plus seven pets,

The kids were fine and the animals didn’t need vets.

Wood told police he fell asleep at the wheel,

Gavelin said she understood how that must feel.

“I’m not angry. It was an honest accident,” she said.

She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

“It’s life in the big city,” Gavelin says.

“You have good days and bad days.”

You see, Gavelin’s tough, she’s no frightened mouse.

She retired after working 20 years in the courthouse.

Officer Matt Keyworth declared it was an accident,

Although an unsafe turn caused the incident.

He said it’s hard, even if you try your best

To prevent such an accident if you don’t get a good night’s rest.