in memoriam, distracted opossum

Country roads at night
Without the glow of street lamps
Consume my headlights
Offering only last second reflections
Of white and yellow stripes
Curving sharply, inconsistently
Right and left
And signs stating empty laws and warnings
And, on occasion, two shinning orbs
Hung in the air
As if frozen in parallel motion
But as I drive nearer
They instantly thaw and disappear
Only a furry side showing
But sometimes I’m driving too fast
Or they are slow to react
And the brief moment they are entranced
Is all they would need
To scurry to safety
And when they hesitate
Long enough for me to see clearly
The face behind the eyes
(Though they still have hopes of escape)
I know that chance is lost
And fate runs its course