Thirteen Seconds
06/28/08
a woman from my town
jumped from a bridge
there was a creek nearby
ten feet wide, two feet deep
and
and I didn’t know her
but we thought about it
her jumping to her death
and we calculated
at the height she jumped from
at her speed while she was falling
it took her thirteen seconds
to fall to her death
thirteen seconds
she thought
for thirteen seconds
before she died
and the thing is,
she might fall
through the nearby tree branches
and we thought about that
the silver maple trees
might hold her back,
slow her down
well, she hit those trees
and they didn’t save her
so this is what I think of
those thirteen seconds,
give or take
that’s what I think of
Copyright © 2008 Janet Kuypers.
All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.
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