Melissa Diem

Enough

On my way to the bank, food-shopping and picking up nitro glycerine

and the sap on the car bled by the sycamore heavy with summer     and it wasn’t

particularly sunny or raining     it wasn’t a negative or a tumbling downwards    I simply saw

a juggernaut rising     over the horizon on the left  And heard     a voice     my own voice

as though said by another     say ‘enough’     and as the weight of the juggernaut slid

towards me, against the fade out back     drop of existence, hurtling heavily, unstoppable

on a junction of road meant to pass     I had time to look     And in a neutral state of feeling

I willingly drove     forward      in a sudden chance to escape the great weight

of my fate     But the truck swerved over, blaring its horn     furiously     and passing me by

I missed my chance and was left     wondering      what great thing intervened     if at all

in my sudden chance to cease     at exactly the right moment     Did I say

‘enough’     too soon or too softly and it hadn’t gathered strength     and words

only become commands when they reach a certain  level      of intensity

when enough – and really mean it      say it with a quiet resignation     becomes enough