A unicorn behind the wheel

There's a story in the news about a man who claims a unicorn was driving his truck and crashed it.

Phillip C. Holliday Jr. of Billings Montana initially said a unicorn drove his truck into a light post on March 7. Nobody was injured.

He later pleaded not guilty to felony charges of criminal endangerment and drunken driving. Holliday has five drunken-driving convictions.

A unicorn, eh? For some reason it made me think of Chesterton. Not because of the drinking, though Chesterton certainly enjoyed adult beverages, but just the sheer whimsy of citing a unicorn under the circumstances.

Certainly a better excuse than Pink Elephants.

Then I remembered a poem of Chesterton’s I stumbled across called, “An Apology for a Letter Unposted (For Clare Nicholl)”

The poem begins:

He thought he saw the Unicorn, the horned and holy horse,
He looked again and saw it was a Subject for Remorse,
He rushed for what he meant to post –
And didn’t post, of course.

The poem goes on for a couple of verses, then ends:

He thought he saw the Unicorn, crowned of the Silver Spear,
He wondered if it was a Stag, and saw it was a Dear –
And so he drowned himself –
some say in Water –
some in Beer.

How appropriate as we approach St. Patrick's Day.