Regret has no Rewind Button

The little girl lays peacefully on the bed of cold tarmac

The ruby red pillow cradling her head

With her eyes still closed, she sucks the blood slowly back into her mouth

Now her shattered legs become whole

The shards of glass embedded in them fly out like crystal butterflies

and become your headlights once more

And now she’s a broken ballerina

twirling and twisting in mid air

She leaps up gracefully from the road

and travels five, four meters and lands on her two feet

Her scattered schoolbooks falling safely back into her satchel

The sudden fear in her eyes fade

and as you stop and she crosses safely, she smiles at you

Almost as if you haven’t killed her

Regret has no rewind button

If you respect life, respect speed limits.

Sometimes a message conveyed with just words, without any visual aids is more powerful than a TV commercial.  I’ve been awestruck by this poignant community message that has been regularly aired on FlyFM for the past two weeks or so, which speaks of regret in such a straightforward manner, it’s hard to ignore.

I’m looking forward to many more similar and meaningful community service messages in future.