A Day Like Any Other - March 23 2024

 

A Day Like Any Other

March 23 2024

I want to believe

something could have been done.

That they were reckless

inattentive

slow to react.

That when they woke up that morning

in an orderly universe

of cause and effect,

some premonition they ignored

could have warned them not to go.

But of course, they went.

Left on time

stayed in their lane.

So when the pick-up truck

crossed the white line

and hit them head-on,

the utter senselessness

touched us all.

Instant death

on a day like any other.

The cruel contingency

breaks my heart.

All the steps they took

   — a second saved,

a slight delay, here and there

no one gave a thought to —

that turned a close call

into fatality

seems incomprehensible;

an intersection

in time and space

that couldn’t be more improbable.

But then

who ever said

things make sense,

virtue is rewarded,

sin has consequence?

It’s a clockwork universe

but hardly orderly.

And most important

indifferent to us.

Because good luck and bad

it’s all the same.

Because if you can’t see it coming

then why not today?

And because no matter what

you’re at the mercy of others

regardless of how hard you try

to keep yourself safe.

A small piece from the weekend Globe.

I’m an atheist, but the expression “there but for the grace of God” comes to mind. We like to feel we’re charge of our own fate. But ultimately, contingency rules. Shit is falling from the sky all the time, and no matter how hard you run, it’s going to get you.

“The pastor of a Cree Nation church and other people en route to medical appointments were among the victims of a head-on collision in rural Quebec on Thursday that killed five people.

Four members of the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi, Que., were killed in the crash, a tragedy that has “devastated” the community located about 500 kilometres northwest of Montreal, Deputy Chief Rhonda Oblin Cooper said in an interview Friday.

The four were travelling inside a van that collided with a pickup truck in the rural town of Chapais, about 75 kilometres east of Waswanipi. The driver of the pickup truck was also killed.

Quebec provincial police are still investigating the incident but have said preliminary information suggests the truck entered the wrong lane on Highway 113 and drove head on into the van, which then caught fire.

Deputy Chief Oblin Cooper said the van belonged to the regional health service and was shuttling patients to appointments at the time of the collision. The office of Chief Irene Neeposh has identified the victims as van driver Abraham Ottereyes, patients Allan Etapp and Charlie Gull, and Mr. Gull’s wife, Cecile Gull.”