Whiplash

When you were driving I was all tensed up
I am worried about the blind spot even when I can see
I feel like I can’t even touch this anxiety

Intangible tension gripped up in my fingertips
when I saw that movie Whiplash
the one about the drummer in the car crash
on his way to the solo

I was merging and a car was about to exit
stage right to the mall but I saw the fear in their eyes
when they checked their blind spot too late
and swiped me off into a pole 
though the fence had slowed my car to a stall
on my way to the drum solo

Crash! went my car
Boom! went my heart
stepping out of the car and over the fence wreck
stumbling to see the girls that had crashed
holding one’s shoe I had found
standing there in my suit
no idea what to do

Later, a phone call to my teacher
telling him about the wreckage and he said
it’s ok, forget about the solo, just take care of yourself
and so I tried but their eyes had some blood
and were full of scary tears

Later, another phone call, this time to the hospital
to find out if they were ok and thankfully so
they were, even though their whiplash probably
struck harder than mine as they turned back from the hit
spin drifting into a barrel roll with bodies flying and
somehow landing onto the grass
well beyond the fence wreck
and a two-lane service road

That night I played in the ensemble
but I didn’t play my solo
and the sorrow is tangible
but I can’t loosen my grip
on regret even though
I did nothing wrong
but the slippage of time 
has helped me
warm up the beats 
in my drumstick 
fingertips