An Accident

I remember it all so clearly,

as bright as the headlights that came towards us

The intense feeling of impact,

like a ton of bricks to our side.

Waking up in the hospital,

where they told me I’d been close to bleeding out.

But mostly I remember the silence

The stretch of agonizing, ear-piercing silence

that lingered between the question, “Are they okay?”

and the answer I wish I had never heard.

Now, years on

the only thing still bleeding

is my empty heart.