Private Pain
he was smiling
whenever I saw him
as if nothing bad
had ever happened to him
and I was happy for him
then one day
he called me up
after reading
a story I’d written
about somebody
who had just died
on the roadway
after being hit by a car
and he asked me
if I’d talked to the driver
and then he was telling me
about himself
how he was that driver
once
years ago
and I could hear him
crying quietly
over the phone
and there was nothing
I could say
so I cried, too
through the years
he must have relived it
a thousand times
why’d it have to be me
she walked in front of
wasn’t his fault
and he knows it
but it doesn’t change a thing
a life is gone
and he goes on
but it’s clear
part of him is gone
the boy died that day
on a broken roadway
TL