In the poem “Today I Went to Heaven,” by The author Saintly Scarlet uses imagery to convince the readers that you should never drive drunk for the consequences could not only destroy people’s lives but can also be even fatal.
“What happened next/I didn’t realize would ruin my life/Neither of us expected it/I saw my whole life flash before my eyes/A car swerved into our lane and hit us head on/I can’t explain what happened next/My tears poured a ton.” In this part of the short story, the narrator talks about when she had lost her life. Along with life, an individual never knows when her time is up. Annie had lost her life due to a drunk driver and there was nothing she could have done to prevent it. No one should ever drive drunk, for it does not only put the driver’s life in danger, but it puts others in danger too. This quote shows that it only takes one mistake to end someone’s life. The image that the author presented during the funeral was very dark and saddening. The tone really hit the reader by showing the destruction that came with one bad decision.
One of the more intense parts of the story was the scene where the boy in the other car that had killed Annie, went up to her grave during the funeral. It made the story come alive and made the reader think about the effect drunk driving can have on people. “The boy that was in the other car/Next walked up to me/he fell to his knees/And began to speak…with that I closed me eyes/Buried my face in the angels gown/I tried to cover my ears, but it didn’t stop the sound.” This scene shows how the reckless act of drunk driving not only killed someone, but also destroyed the life of the person who was responsible. To strengthen the argument presented before, drunk driving not only kills people, but also ruins the lives of the people who are responsible. If you are not caught and thrown in jail, you are forced to live with the guilt of taking the life of someone else. The gates to heaven opened up and we walked in. This symbolized the start of a new life.
At the end of the story when Annie and the angel walked through the gates of heaven it symbolized the start of a new life and new beginning. “So the angel closed the gate/As we entered heavens realm/And helped me with this new life/The new life that I’d found.” This scene in the poem shows how now Annie has to move on from her old life on planet earth and move on to the “afterlife.” She now had to put everything that has happened in her past behind her and finally move on. When something tragic happens in one’s life, they cannot fully recover and get to a healthy state of mind without letting what had happened go and move on with their life. In life, you must free yourself from the bad and go towards the good.