The winning driver,

after 100,000 passes past 1,000,000 roaring fans

in the stands,

SPEEDS HOME VICTORIOUS!!!

And the world explodes!

Screams its approval!!

The driver,

pumping his fist to accentuate his victory.

The spectators on the drivers side

see his fist and mimic his motion

but the crowds on the right

miss the movement

and those further down the raceway

don’t hear the cacophony of engine noise and crowd roar

as loudly as those nearer the finish line

and many cannot see the waving checkered flag

missing that grand final vision moment

for all the standing celebrants who did

and the little 4 year old ,

dragged to the race

all the way from Wisconsin

by his fanatical father

to the sorrow of his pleading mother

stands like a sapling among Red Woods,

terrorized,

only feeling the stamping of 200,000 cowboy boots

and the blind Vet,

helped to the race by his comrades

sees none of the finish,

but only feels

the yells and stomping,

feels the concussive impact through his body

as he is snapped back to Iraq

and that one terrible moment

when all the world

went black.