CREATIVE WRITING:

Answer the following questions:

1. The poem is about a car accident that's why there is the presence of an ambulance. I
can tell that it is an emergency because the way the setting was described sounded grim
and horrid. The entire first stanza allows us to vividly picture the scenario and so the
phrase "the ambulance at top speed floating down" depicts urgency as the ambulance
rushes to the scene to help the victims that are in grave danger.

2. There are patients and some of them might've survived since the phrase "stretchers are
laid out, the mangle lifted" can be interpreted in two ways. One of which is that some
are severely injured or it can refer to the disfigured corpses due to the fatality of the
crash. The following lines seem to tell us that there are deaths in this because of the
eerie and heart-wrenching descriptions. The bell reminded me of church bells that seem
to welcome the dead and the "terrible cargo" might be referring to the fallen victims
inside the ambulance.

3. The onlookers felt sad and severely affected by this situation especially as the scenario is
depicted by the line "we are deranged, walking among the cops"--as if they are all in a
state of shock. On the other hand, the cops seem to be indifferent to the situation as
they go on about their jobs such as "making notes under the light" and "with a bucket
douches ponds of blood".

4. There are a lot of lines that could pinpoint this but the one I find the most striking and
obvious is the line "empty husks of locusts into an iron pole" as if the people in the
casualty were the locusts crushing into the iron pole. This is a very unusual association
but it somehow makes the scene more gruesome. As the scene went on, we can tell that
the attitude of the author, as well as the onlookers, becomes like that of a victim: “Our
throats were tight as tourniquets/Our feet were bound with splints”. It is quite
understandable because it is mentally and emotionally deteriorating to witness such.
And even if they try to make light of the situation, it is inevitable for them to reflect on
one’s fate.
 5. It does, especially with the way the scenario was described in the first stanza.
''And down the dark one ruby flare
Pulsing out red light like an artery.''
That by itself creates vivid imagery in my head, dominated by red or blood. Again, the “pools of
blood” and “stretchers are laid out, the mangle lifted” shows just how severe and tragic the
said auto wreck is.

6. The tone of the story is grim and very thought-provoking in a way that I’m not sure I
understand this passage: “We speak through sickly smiles and warn / With the stubborn
saw of common sense, / The grim joke and the banal resolution.” The entirety of the
poem made me think of my perception of death especially because of the way the poem
is structured in the last stanza. Using figurative language, Shapiro reinforces the theme
of death as being bizarre and perplexing. Thus, he manages to convey this tone and
mood to the readers.

7. The poem is more than just about a car crash and the unfortunate fate of the people
involved since the entirety of the poem leads us to the complex subject of death. As we
connect the main points from each stanza, there is an order of occurrence that takes us
to the steps from shock to realization of how death can be so unpredictable—not
necessary and not preventable either. The author is exploring the random and illogical
nature of mortality by contrasting the car crash with other forms of death such as war,
suicide, stillbirth, and cancer that seem to be easier to grasp. Overall, it is a morbid
poem, but the theme is relevant since everyone will die someday and no one knows if it
will be sudden, like a car crash, or come on slowly like cancer.