"The Bystander"
"The Bystander"
A bystander stood patiently at the corner,
staring at the orange light telling him to wait,
as he eagerly anticipated making his next move.
Emerald green lit up in his eyes as he started to walk,
until a thunderous crash and a staggering explosion,
sent him down to the unforgiving pavement below.
Shaking the cobwebs and fog out of his mind,
he woke to the distinctive smell of fire and smoke,
gazing in horror at a scene of carnage and twisted metal.
People ran to the site in futile attempts to help,
while he remained frozen in a pompeian state.
Hours after the grizzly setting had been cleared,
he drowned his memories of the day
underneath an effervescent stream of icy ale.
As the setting sun gave way to the rising moon,
a women with hair of gold and rose red lips,
sat down across the crowded and buzzing bar.
For one brief but telling moment his eyes met hers,
his faced flushed red and his heart crawled into his throat.
He wanted so desperately to make his move,
but when he thought about rising to his feet,
suddenly that wreck came speeding to the front of his mind.
When he tried to find the words that he would say,
all he could see was the rubble of the fiery crash.
So he sat back down in state of petrified defeat,
studying his reflection at the bottom of an empty glass,
Soon there after the woman got up from where she sat,
walked over to the door and disappeared forever into the night.
Sitting quietly in his office the next morning,
every ticking second on the clock above his door,
seemed to pass with the speed of sap leaking from a tree.
He couldn't pull his mind from his inability to act,
now cursed with the unwelcome burden of wondering what if.
Without warning his boss unexpectedly appeared,
towering over him at the helm of his desk.
Like a genie released from a gem crusted lamp,
he came bearing life changing gifts in his hands.
With the dreams he always wanted just inches from his grip,
the endless possibilities flooded his mind,
like rushing water breaking through a faulty dam.
Only as quickly as the nourishing waters came,
the landscape in his mind dried up to a barren state,
from the unrelenting heat of the flames from the crash.
The picture of what may lie ahead became cloudy,
from the thick black smoke of the wreckage.
So once more he froze and failed to act,
letting this moment of opportunity pass.
Forlorn from the clutch this trauma had taken on his soul,
he desperately searched the ends of the earth,
for a way to take back control.
Before too long a light shone bright in the dark,
so he followed it hoping it would illuminate a solution.
Upon arrival he found himself underneath the street light,
on the very corner where the accident occurred days before.
With the mangled cars still resting in the intersection,
he slowly approached and studied the smoldering remains.
The body of a man sat slumped over behind the wheel,
as the headlights of passing cars reveled the body to be his.
He fell back in shock and gasped for his breath,
unable to comprehend what he was witnessing.
It wasn't until he deliberated on this revelation
that he realized he was merely a wandering apparition and shadow,
of a life that never really began.
By: Brendan Cadman
A bystander stood patiently at the corner,
staring at the orange light telling him to wait,
as he eagerly anticipated making his next move.
Emerald green lit up in his eyes as he started to walk,
until a thunderous crash and a staggering explosion,
sent him down to the unforgiving pavement below.
Shaking the cobwebs and fog out of his mind,
he woke to the distinctive smell of fire and smoke,
gazing in horror at a scene of carnage and twisted metal.
People ran to the site in futile attempts to help,
while he remained frozen in a pompeian state.
Hours after the grizzly setting had been cleared,
he drowned his memories of the day
underneath an effervescent stream of icy ale.
As the setting sun gave way to the rising moon,
a women with hair of gold and rose red lips,
sat down across the crowded and buzzing bar.
For one brief but telling moment his eyes met hers,
his faced flushed red and his heart crawled into his throat.
He wanted so desperately to make his move,
but when he thought about rising to his feet,
suddenly that wreck came speeding to the front of his mind.
When he tried to find the words that he would say,
all he could see was the rubble of the fiery crash.
So he sat back down in state of petrified defeat,
studying his reflection at the bottom of an empty glass,
Soon there after the woman got up from where she sat,
walked over to the door and disappeared forever into the night.
Sitting quietly in his office the next morning,
every ticking second on the clock above his door,
seemed to pass with the speed of sap leaking from a tree.
He couldn't pull his mind from his inability to act,
now cursed with the unwelcome burden of wondering what if.
Without warning his boss unexpectedly appeared,
towering over him at the helm of his desk.
Like a genie released from a gem crusted lamp,
he came bearing life changing gifts in his hands.
With the dreams he always wanted just inches from his grip,
the endless possibilities flooded his mind,
like rushing water breaking through a faulty dam.
Only as quickly as the nourishing waters came,
the landscape in his mind dried up to a barren state,
from the unrelenting heat of the flames from the crash.
The picture of what may lie ahead became cloudy,
from the thick black smoke of the wreckage.
So once more he froze and failed to act,
letting this moment of opportunity pass.
Forlorn from the clutch this trauma had taken on his soul,
he desperately searched the ends of the earth,
for a way to take back control.
Before too long a light shone bright in the dark,
so he followed it hoping it would illuminate a solution.
Upon arrival he found himself underneath the street light,
on the very corner where the accident occurred days before.
With the mangled cars still resting in the intersection,
he slowly approached and studied the smoldering remains.
The body of a man sat slumped over behind the wheel,
as the headlights of passing cars reveled the body to be his.
He fell back in shock and gasped for his breath,
unable to comprehend what he was witnessing.
It wasn't until he deliberated on this revelation
that he realized he was merely a wandering apparition and shadow,
of a life that never really began.
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