EMERGENCY
Berkeley CA just past midnight, in the shank of summer
(read intensely ~ breathlessly:
the night poured in
as the colors shot through the shadows
up on telegraph and durant
outside blondie’s pizza
students and homeless stared in disbelief
then moved on as the EMT’s and cops
intoned come on move along move along
nothing to see here
but they were wrong
between the sweat soaked cal kids
flooding out of larry blake's
as if it were last call
and the intense lights
this was the place to be seen
the swirling lights lit the drama
as bets were made
on the fate of the someone
just shoved in the back
the cops and the firemen
backing the gurney
into the belly of the truck
like a thrashing piece of dough
rolled into the oven
the scraping sound
of the pizza descending into the flame
punctuated by the whoop whoop of the cops
trying to move the traffic along
it seemed like this space
two blocks from sather gate
was the trauma center
a slight haze of uncertainty
painted the cracks
between the known
and the unknown
in the pizzeria
some stared in incredulity
and others stared at the walls
others transfixed
by sheaf’s of notes
carved out
last minute papers
a guy out of view
nodded his bald head
to some unknown band
with the other ear glued
to a cell phone
talking loud against the din
slight rhythm kicked to the curb
and a few bowed down
to the garden of earthly delights
the mound of frozen yogurt
slid into the top of the
east bay express news rack
the ungodly night heat
waiting on the incoming fog
someone yelled get real
and the emergency vehicles
melted into the night
B I R D
Poem Copyright
©2006, Frederick Douglass Perry, All Rights Reserved
Comments and faves
Corydora added this photo to her favorites. (69 months ago)
Corydora (69 months ago | reply)
Amazing shot - all the adrenaline is right there...
Lynn Morag (69 months ago | reply)
You caught the moment, Fred - well done!
LRP
Lorrie McClanahan (away) (69 months ago | reply)
"like a thrashing piece of dough
rolled into the oven
the scraping sound
of the pizza descending into the flame
punctuated by the whoop whoop of the cops"
You do that so seamlessly. I love the mixed-up overlap of all the imagery.
yeimaya (69 months ago | reply)
My daughter in law is on the receiving end of these tradgedies.... she works the emergency room. Don't know how she does it.
But a state trooper who taught a first aid course when I was in VISTA said that it is the cops and EMTs that have to deal with the chaos. Drs are often discouraged from staying on the scene because by the time they usually see a victim, there some of the fierce random energy and emotion has been tidied up.
***Karen (69 months ago | reply)
Thank you for sharing!
rookie1106 and kerri1027 added this photo to their favorites.