Pass Her By

Pass Her By

The still picture of her smile,

resembles a life she had.

The date that it was taken

was the last memory of her

spirit dancing.

Beyond that point,

only one can imagine,

but do you stop and wonder

if she’s still pleading?

You look, then walk away.

You excuse yourself

by saying,

“She’s not mine.”

Doing Nothing,

makes you part of the problem

NOT the solution.

You go home remembering

the face of the girl,

you stare at your own children

and think,

“No, it’s not going to happen to me.”

In the evening you kiss your girls

goodnight and just know in confidence

that they’ll be there to wake you in the morning.

Morning rises and laughter fills the room

you kiss them goodbye as they ride the

bus to school.

You head to work, assuming things

will remain the same as usual.

You come home, you see police cars surrounding

your perfect lawn.

You walk in to find your spouse on the couch,

then it hits you.

Your little girl has become the girl

you saw in the picture.

Now that you’ve passed her by,

just imagine how many more will pass yours.

(c) Chong N. Kim