BANG! Poem by Durs Grünbein

That's when the tyre burst. In front of us the lorry
Started to swerve. Lurched across the motorway,
All six speeding lanes of it, as if carried by the sea
Everything braking, a barrage of lights screeching Stay!

And so it began: a dance of iron swans, a ballet
Of whispering, touching, necks intertwined.
Then the turning point, and the flock burst apart,
Re-grouping at the edge as if there'd been a fight.

That was it then, life up to now. This was the place
The barriers had brought you, this latest absurd peril.
Like an image in a dream: your own trembling hand . . .
Inconceivable that we once met under giant trees.
The sound of horns, the traffic continues. But one stands,
Head on the steering wheel. Sleep, just let me sleep.