I saw the wreck a little after it happened: A car lay up-side-down beside the pavement; The crowd stood by and gaped upon a drop Of blood—the sickening symbol of a death, A limp, white body quickly lifted, thrust Into an ambulance and hurried graveward. It came to me, then, with a sudden pang, That what is so appalling as this wreck, In war is but the usual run of things: There is no brooding on one drop of blood When the red streams flow darkly from the veins Of millions sprawling, ghastly, still forever. O you who hold the wheels that guide the nations, Drive carefully—for perilous is the highway! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ILKA BLADE O' GRASS KEPS ITS AIN DRAP O' DEW by JAMES BALLANTYNE THE WIND'S VISIT by EMILY DICKINSON TO SCIENCE; SONNET by EDGAR ALLAN POE REVELATION by ROBERT PENN WARREN WHEN YOU ARE OLD by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS A SOLDIER'S GRAVE by JOHN ALBEE |