walking in Laguna Beach

Thank you for not killing me
in the metal-grilled cross-hairs
of your monstrous SUV
as I crossed the street
cautiously, in full view, in daylight,
in the crosswalk where I thought I had a lawful right to be
and indeed once did in a different, slower world
when I could meander and even take a peek upward
at a trail of pelicans
or outward at a glorious pod of dolphins,
but now I must deal with the likes of you
as you fight for space, wrecking the world
with anger and the awful weight of your toys. ~ John Gardiner UCI