There I was standing,
Majestically tall and proud,
Like the oak I have always been,
That eve in the park.
Breeze visited me,
Rustling my leaves with a message,
Thanatos was coming,
But not for my old soul.
Generations upon generations
Of humans I’ve seen,
But their idiosyncrasy regarding safety,
Continues to elude me.
Then like a freeze-frame,
Every detail captured,
Every silent sound heard,
Never to be forgotten from memory.
A youthful man,
A sapling of change,
A young woman,
An embodiment for regret.
She was jaywalking,
Late for an appointment.
He was cruising with a feeling,
On his bike weaving through the streets.
His head uncovered,
Hair flying in the wind.
Pinched dread on her face,
Morphing into outright terror.
He saw her too late,
Braking and skidding on the road,
Glass and metal flying like confetti,
His ichor wetting my leaves.
By the side she stood,
Unscathed physically,
But her mind in a turmoil,
Guilt weighing her conscience.
Two miscalculations,
One life taken,
“To err is human”, they say,
To learn is also human.
