And If......

If my mother had not gone to the Pictures that night

Or had gone to the Castle, instead of the Astor

If she had arrived five minutes later

My father would have been ahead of her in the queue,

and not behind,

And he would not have seen the fire in her hair

Catch the light of the evening sun

And if he had looked down at that epiphanic

Moment to retrieve a fallen coin

I would have been unconsummated

And if he had not followed her gaze

To the pair of shoes,

Or was it a handbag?

In McKinley’s shop window, and said,

“Would you like me to buy that for you?”

And if he had not startled her with his boldness

that unleashed laughter and not distain

My non- existence would have been ensured.

For it takes such fortuitous events

Such flukes in the passage of time

Such serendipities

To make us who we are.

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2018