the man who struggled

with spotting the obvious

had never heard

the sound of a falling possum

before

and in its own kinda way

it was

quite beautiful

before

the impact of course

he tried to resuscitate it

pumping away

at its little heart

and kissing those

funny lips

its broken body

limp in his arms

but to no

avail.

from then onwards

everything

was sad in his life

as

he couldn’t

get the sound of the falling possum

out of his

mind

until

now being aware of such things

he heard

the beautiful sound again

and turned around

just in time

to catch

another falling possum

this time saving its life

the man now understanding

why the bridge

he walked under every day

was called

suicide possum bridge.

—

by Mark Waddell, from On the Cusp of Greatness (£7.99, £2.99 Kindle)