What If...

What if she had not gone to lunch

What if she had not kissed her kids goodbye

What if she had not told her husband that she loves him?

What if she had not stepped off that curb.

What if that car had stopped.

Like a bright yellow leaf that shimmers in Fall's golden sun

As it slowly turns brown and curls into itself.

What if in the Spring, the sap in the tree had not run

What if the tree did not leaf?

What if the Summer was too hot, or there was not enough rain.

What if a bug ate the leaf

What if the leaf holds onto the tree forever?

But she did step off the curb

The car did not stop

And the leaf let go of the tree and gently drifted down to rest and decay