Unbelted occupants
Are not able to resist
The tremendous forces of impact by holding tight
Or bracing themselves. Their impact
With the vehicle interior
Has all the energy they had
Just before the collision.

— Volkswagen AG, “Unbelted Occupants,” as quoted by Michael Bérubé

As Bérubé says:

It is a compelling piece of work. I want particularly to draw your attention to the reiteration and personalization of “impact,” as the impact is no longer that of “tremendous forces” but of the “occupants” themselves, and the way this process is repeated in line six, where we find that their impact “has all the energy they had.” That abrupt modulation into the past tense is, I think, understated and powerful. We need not say any more about why these occupants are now spoken of only in terms of the energy they have lost.

(Alert readers may also recall Christopher Rowe’s magisterial “Our Prize Patrol Will Find You, No Matter Where You Are,” from Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet No. 9.)