I did not stop for the pup today

lying injured upon the busy street

They said a car ran over it

but I could see it still breathed.

I did not stop for the pup today

I hid behind excuses of “work”

the ‘important’ cases of ‘important’ people

that were waiting to be heard.

I did not stop for the pup today

and I admit it’s not the first time.

Over the years I have stopped to stop

using similar recycled lines.

I did not stop for the pup today

but I fell in my own eyes

as the car drove further away

I became less human, I realise.

Now it pours: rain drops shatter upon the street, hungry and wet, 

I sit by and watch, the ‘important’ things have been sorted and kept 

My mind returns again and again to that street asking with dismay:

When did I cross over, to the street where I no longer stop for the pup today?