I turn onto the Southside Bridge,
pass in the opposing lane
the city dump truck
packed with Christmas pines,
on top the littlest waggling, breaking free.

It bounces in a spray of brittle glitter,
glass dragon shattered by a hammer,
then comes to rest. I drive past,

slower, more cautious,
lucky I was there to witness.

Calamities often go unnoticed, voiceless,
each day in the blank & shadowed woods.

Ace Boggess is the author of two books of poetry: The Prisoners (Brick Road Poetry Press, 2014, available on Amazon) and The Beautiful Girl Whose Wish Was Not Fulfilled (Highwire Press, 2003). His novel, A Song Without a Melody, is forthcoming from Hyperborea Publishing. His writing has appeared in Harvard Review, Mid-American Review, RATTLE, River Styx, North Dakota Quarterly and many other journals. He lives in Charleston, West Virginia. 

He has just released Abuse Cycle, a micro-chapbook available here