Badger

I was a badger for the ages on and off

I did not have enough time to avoid the car

Gosh, the impact STUNG!

My grey neck was flattened demolished

Nerves all gone turning my head hair blood red

Unworthy of lab tests

My family needed me you see

Little dears

I travelled far from my sett that clear, May nighttime

Moon-wildflower scents blooming in my snout

I was not returning home

The rushing driver was careless

and had no respect for this country lane

Other badgers did not try to mourn my passing once they heard the news

I clambered over layers of pea green gush

undergrowth became road

and the failing light was my un-doing

Yet,

there was another factor: human error

(the abuse of an accident)

or did cruel leanings grow

in the driver’s blank, dead philosophy?

Like an itch that became a collection of injuries

I sunk deep into the rural ether

Other humans saw me dead later

They did not question the air between my body and their faces

at all

they saw my lone innocence flat on the tarmac

They wanted to touch and did not want to touch

before they turned all of their attention

to the driver’s mind

Was this death caused by poor judgement? Was the driver a sick or self-absorbed man or woman? Was the driver on crystal meth or under the influence of alcohol? Was the driver just plain stupid or a speedster? Perhaps the driver had no history of speeding fines. Perhaps the driver was just a serial avoider who did not have the decency to bury me.