Detour Poem by Tom J. Mariani

Where would they have gone
If they had not driven off that day
Down the Redwood Highway

As far as where, until that morning,
The two southbound lanes
Had been supported by a bridge?

There were no 'DETOUR AHEAD' signs
Except for the slight shaking and
The rhythmic rocking of their car.

'What's that? she asked.
'I think we're getting a flat, '
Was his response until

He realized his headlights
Had stopped seeing
The reflectors and road lines.

Then they both saw
The other side
With only darkness in between.

At 60 mph there seemed nothinig
Between where they were and
Where the road begain again.

Instantly, she was attempting
To get in the back seat
To protect their children.

He was slamming both feet on the pedals,
Gripping the wheel, fighting for control
Of their VW Bug that was already airborne.

Through his windshield
He saw
What an earthquake can do

To a highway engineer's assumptions of
Friction coefficients and
The constant force of gravity.

Page ones across the world
Sunday morning had pictures
Of where they had landed;

Upside down
Thirty feet below
Where the bridge deck had been.

Front driiver's side
Mag wheel
Ripped off.

Re-bar slices
Can-opener like tears
On a grey car door.

The papers tell of little more
About him, his wife
And their three children:

'Twin boys age nine
And a girl
Age four.'

Except that
'They were packed
For a three-day holiday.

Now instead taken
To two local hospitals.
Expected to recover

From various injuries sustained...'
What did that reporter know?
He wasn't there.

If not for this detour,
Where would
The road of life taken them?

Because of it,
Where are they now?
Such is life.