I see you there

At the stoplight

But you’re looking at your phone so you’re unaware

I can pick my nose and turn into a clown

Your stereo blasts an awful tune

You think you can do anything in this town

As the light turns green your foot turns into a cinderblock upon the gas

The stereo sound fades as you pass

All the other cars in your way

Your vehicle is a river winding around boulders

A snake slithering

You cross the solid lines and switch lanes

You drift onto the shoulder

You weave some more

A needle in the flesh

My mind utters toward you the words I abhor

I watch you tailgate

I slow down

You speed up as I wait

I hope a cop is around the bend

That a citation brings your escapade to an end

I curl my fists but one of my fingers sticks out

I curse under my breath

While the bumper sticker on my car tells commuters “God loves you, believe”

I watch you weave

Wondering what’s next

In the courtroom, the video clip plays.

“Driving through the intersection you send your final text.”

Tires screech then there’s a loud crash

“In a moment you’re upside down

Dead stopped in the intersection

The little kid who was in your path is now on her way to heaven”

The stereo still plays

The sirens wail

“You crawl out of your car unscathed

How’s it feel to get here before everyone else?,” the prosecutor asks me

His first trial

Mine too

I couldn’t believe I was there – in denial

I had set out to confront the reckless driver myself

In the process I became him

Hell-bent on revenge

He made it to his destination

I followed him but wrecked

The judge would have none of my desperate persuasion

He told me, “No license and some time behind bars, this is what you can expect

Leave the policing and the judging to me.”

I walked away in handcuffs, thinking about my hypocrisy