【Her Last Hour】
By Tian Yu Zhi
Almost finished her evening jog,
She waited at the traffic light, to return home
The light changed to a pedestrian walk sign
She picked up her feet and moved forward ——
At that split second, her fate collided with
A stranger’s decision to speed up and run a red light
She heard sighs, sound of flute arise from a valley
Her pink tee shirt did not reflect
The brilliance of her humanity
Her will of steel could not stop the force of velocity
In slow motion, a red flower bloomed
On dark cement of reality
Plum petals began a journey of
Descending, in spirals, to eternity
At 6:35pm, May 25th, 2021
Two days before her big birthday
One day before receiving a love poem that
She has been waiting for, all her life
Four days before a 5K race,
Her son and she organized for the Asian Heritage Month
Seven days before she greets another 100 students
Two hours before she finishes a poem, for him
These actions would have happened sooner
Had they knew,
The dark side of time and patience
2021.5.25
* I went out for a jog this evening and was almost killed by a SUV running a red light. 惊恐之余,提笔记之。