The distance of 237
tax paying members
of the public
lying end to end
The length of a
stationary traffic queue of
85 family cars returning home
to the height of their 53
two-storey houses
stacked one on top of the other
The combined lengths
of over 21 cricket pitches
or four and a half football pitches
Or if you prefer
a quarter of a mile
The equivalent of cruising
along one and a half QE2's
or rising up to within the last 5%
of the height of the
Empire State Building
That's what it would take
to cover the stopping distance
of a car travelling at
one hundred and fifty nine
miles per hour
A ruling says an individual
has suffered long enough
An individual placed
in a position of trust
placing distance between
themselves and performance
measuring the capabilities
of a public vehicle
bought to help safeguard
the law abiding citizens
of this country
not on a racetrack
or salt flat but
on a public highway
And this is thought to be
protecting the community
when fines are doled out
for lesser indiscretions
And this is supposed to be
setting a moral example
a code to live by
More like fuelling double standards
and do as I say attitudes
and not as I do benchmarks
© Brendan Hawthorne 2006 Brendan runs regular poetry evenings in the Black Country.
For more details check out www.poetrywednesbury.co.uk
