The Final Minute
Minutes go by,
some go fast
Some disappear
while others last
One minute I was just
standing there
The next minute suddenly
there was a flare
I was grabbed hard
round the throat
A refugee that
arrived here by boat
He’s killed before
in another land
I thought “I will
not die, not by your hand”
I struck out fast
and I struck out hard
Life had dealt me
that sudden card
I hit him back I
was not a wreck
He was shocked my
hands upon his neck
That’s when I our
eyes deeply met
All I could see was
cold with no regret
What happened next
was up to me
We stared like
that for an eternity
I held onto him
and he held onto me
I pushed him back
my hands broke free
In that moment I thought,
“I will not die”
I was ready to
rise with my head held high
Then I saw the
door and another way out
It was one I had
not yet thought about
I saw my friend
and the look on her face
I went next to her;
in safety I took my place
Then emotions came
and stole my voice
I knew I had made
the very best choice
For in that moment
I thought, “Fuck you jack”
I won’t lie down I
will fight back
Then I remembered
what some one had said
And knew I was
alive and I wasn’t dead
His actions
thought they happened to me
Sanity prevails
and you never take it personally
All that happened
in thirty second or less
My longest minute
my toughest test
All the thoughts
of Irene being left alone
Of her heart break
answering that phone
My Son getting
married my daughter giving birth
The things that
matter most to me here on earth
No one at work ever
deserves to die
I thought of the Anzacs and I started to cry
I needed to run to
hide just to get some fresh air
I didn’t know what
I wanted, just not to be there
Now that’s its
over and I can replay it in my mind
I’m still alive
and that’s pretty fuckin fine.
