My Other Life

I stepped into the crosswalk today and was almost hit by a car.
I counted myself lucky then and went on with my day.
I thought about the other universe. The one in which I didn't step back,
And wondered now how my other life was shattered.
My other kids, my other wife, my other dog, my other life.

He fell to the floor grasping his chest. It was lucky she was there to call for help,
It was fortunate that somebody was there to act in that critically precious time.
Because if she weren't, he'd be dead in just the fewest of short moments.
Like in his other life, in his other house, where his other wife was still on her way home.
But now, his other kids are crying and will grow up without their father.

She woke up fine this morning, she looked and felt great.
But before she could make her morning coffee, her head hurt suddenly and then she was gone.
The promises she'd made to herself had still been brewing in her mind,
The adventures she had planned for her young family, just beginning to happen.
Had she told all the people she loved just how much they meant to her?
Had she done everything she wanted to do? Was she content?

In her other life, she's still breathing, still going about her day,
attending her duties, running her errands, making her plans.
In her other life her other husband's not grieving, not grappling with how to tell their young children, that their mother won't be coming home.
In her other life, she's called, and her husband picks up the phone.
"The traffic is bad, I'll be a few minutes late." she says.

For those who are gone,
No more walks holding hands,
no more kisses from the children,
no more sunsets or sunrises,
no more trees blowing in the breeze,
No more conversations with friends.
In my other life, I'm dead now.
Oblivious. Like the time before I was born.
We become, into the world,
a pattern of cells emerging and gone just as quickly,
returning to that from which we came.
We do not know how long we have,
but we know it is too short a time we have to grasp the beauty that is our life.