You were a young leaf
A flapping shimmer of green
In the early spring sunshine
Happy, joyous
Frolicsome and gay.

Without warning
Nor portent in the wind,
Tragedy struck you down.
Plucked forcefully from the branch
Before your destined time.

One inopportune moment
Turned your world
Into a dizzy spiral,
A broken melody,
A shattered cry.

Now you lie motionless,
Your life halted
Your body wounded.
Soul seeking to live
Barely there, hanging on.
Please hang on.
Please live.


(October 15,2007/ 9: 35 P.M./ Bowie, Maryland/Got news of cousin Nathan’s accident.)

Tricia Mae Chua

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/one-inopportune-moment/