THE WEIRD KID SEATED AT THE BACK OF THE CLASSROOM
Speed freak is what they called him
No speed was too great for this maniacal son
Backing up in an easy roll his heartbeat quadruples
Intensity white hot against a delicate summer breeze
Engines simulate orgasm as pistons compress and eject their fluid
Moonlight invigorates the frenetic aura
Manic hysteria counting down from ten in increments of one
A calming silence temporarily overwhelms his cognitive function
Red flag drops like a guillotine
The smell of burning rubber intoxicates the innocence of yesterday
Spinning wheels of delicious thunder litter the quarter mile track
Finishing line offers a bevy of beauty to the eventual slayer
Gasp and a swath of cockroaches scatter
The crunch of locking metal shatters a bystander’s eardrum
Everything ends in 7.5 seconds of circumstance
Author’s Bio
DARRYL SALACH resides in St. Catharines, Ontario. His work has been published in many journals, anthologies and newspapers, including the Globe and Mail, The New York Quarterly, ditch, The Puritan, Open Book Toronto, GULCH: An Assemblage of Poetry and Prose, MESS: The Hospital Anthology, and Jack Layton: Art in Action.