NEW YEARS EVE; A CONSEQUENCE

hurry quick, last day of the year
before the clock strikes twelve
say all that needs to be said before;

just a couple hours before
two lovers in a previous life
reconnect, over drinks, at
a familiar bar, soft light, warm fires
burning, intimate, beginnings of
a new beginning, they talked
as if, time never left, they held hands
where would this lead, into each
others eyes, they would look, capturing
that spark once lit

they decided to walk down town
capture the activities there, ring in the new year
as  they walked arm and arm, they were caught
off guard by a stranger brandishing a gun-he demanded
all their money, he refused, as the stranger gave a
warning, he still refused, a shot rang out, he collapsed
to the ground, as the stranger ran into the dark
she knelt by his side, where she wept in silence, there was
nobody coming, his last words to her, "if i had only known"
as the snow began to fall now in heavy wet feathered flakes
ready to cover up; a failed crime scene; now, fade to black

by Michael Perry