Ode to Bonnie Lyle

Eleven-year-old Bonnie Lyle

was my sixth-grade friend

When summer arrived,

Her life came to a sudden end

She lived in a house

upon a county hillside

Not far below

On the highway is where she died

One day she walked down

And went to the store

Nobody could have known

We would not see her anymore

With her groceries, she headed home

When just around the bend

A car hit Bonnie Lyle

Her life came to an end

The news reported that eggs

And the carton were scattered on the road

That memory from 1969

Will never fully erode

At random times I imagine

Sweet Bonnie lying on the ground

Eggs splattered all over the spot

Where her lifeless body was found