It Takes Just A Minute

Life has a funny way of waking us up when we get too complacent,

If you’re lucky it’s with a gentle nudge or a push,

Unlucky? Then it’s with the subtlety of a brick smashing you over the head,

And life suddenly changes with a shocking ambush.

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We live in the very definition of hope, believing time has our back,

When in reality our existence is incredibly fragile,

It takes just a minute to change our direction, who we are, and where we are heading,

We think we have forever, when forever does not exist! What we have is just a wee while.

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A telephone call can break a heart,

Bad news unexpectedly received, sends us careening across the lanes on life’s highway,

A tree strategically placed on the edge of the road, suddenly stops our out-of-control journey,

And what has changed? Just our entire fucking day!

******

A routine medical dishes out devastating news,

A diagnosis that rushes the years to quicken the end of a life,

How to process the inevitability of facing it all,

To take the next breath? A minute spent callously defining a death.

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Coming home from a trip away, only to discover a womb of betrayal,

Gifted by a loved one as a heart irreparably shatters,

Silence abound as they’re no longer around,

And the day that was beautiful, no longer matters.

******

A four-car pile up out on the freeway,

Destroys a family waiting for their son to come home,

Pronounced deceased at the scene next to strangled metal,

And a cold voice citing the news on the end of a phone.

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It takes just a minute for the world to spin on its axis,

And if it’s your turn today, you’ve suddenly become a totally different being,

You’ve been altered so drastically there is no turning back,

There’s no changing, no ignoring, no running or fleeing.

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You’re left standing amongst the debris wondering what the fuck just happened,

Surrounded by pieces that no longer fit,

So, take no one for granted, love deeply, laugh often, hold each other tight,

Because it takes just a minute for life to suddenly turn to shit!