12/12/04 Dead, I was! Flying, speeding, careening through space. My car, competing with the speed of earth! Ask me, About centripetal force, it contained my bubble of oxygen. Ask me, About centrifugal force, It gave me momentum. When bungee jumping has no anchor, Free falling means a glimpse of the black hole. Can the speed of thought be measured? Not by the speed of light nor by the depths of space. Seatbelt not gravity anchored my fetal form. Suspended in midair, Upside down, an astronaut in his final moments on earth. Release me from this paralysis, Like a Volvo ad, allow me to step out with a volvo grin on my face. Boy, what a demo; the dummy survived! Not me! A writer?s coma writ white on a blank page. My silver nail polish glitters on lifeless fingers. Strange, how the morning light shines a pale yellow light. I?m not blinded, t?is the color of my eyelids, Translucent, warm sunlight filtered through a maze of capillaries. Pulsating in split seconds, each fraction the length of eternity. Eternity devoid of time, how long? Breath, a snuff of life, how fragile! Spirit, watching in fascination? Oh how beautiful is the shattering of glass in slow motion! Like the spray of ocean stinging in sugary texture. My soul whispers ? Oh powers of the universe, protect me!? That spit of enlightenment: Let me die for I see no blood, Just my glittering nail polish; Strange how it matches perfectly The glittering shards gleaming in the morning sun, my source of life, my source of light. Like the palate of dried paints; swirled in abandon, Leashing my emotions and coloring my seconds. If I could, I?d paint time, space and death in all their glory Using the prisms of my fragmented windshield fracture the rays into brilliant smithereens, life?s last attempt to capture the ticking seconds Strange, how beauty exists even in death. ************************************************ I wish everyone a safe holiday season. May the powers of the universe protect you!