Pause

I look out to the man that is standing on the bridge,
and my thoughts are like a plea-
does he intend to take his life in order to be free.

His body sways upon the rail that overlooks the lake,
I want to cry out to stop this man-
but for whom would I put at stake.

Would he later become a man the world will want to know,
or would he spend the rest of his life in a deep and dreadful hole.
Would I put a stop to some mistake-
for what I cannot say,
or would I make the matter worse by making another day.

Just as I think I must stop this man-
that I need to try the best I can-
he falls from the bridge to the water below.

and in this moment I feel the blow.
The splash it leaves me soaking wet-
and finally I understand what I could not get.

It was not that I meant to save this man-
to clear my guilty soul,
but to help stop the pain that he must have felt-
that finally took it's toll.

Diana Nelson 1/2004