I Can'T Today
I saw the obituary on a Monday eve.
Her services had been last week, our own little Neve.
A woman I had run into many times before,
She had asked me to lunch two or three times, maybe more.
I always said, "I can't now, I am too busy today."
Never knowing she needed me in every kind of way.
She had seemed a bit overwhelmed last Monday morn.
She'd ask me to lunch, but I had a dress that was torn.
She had a great smile, she was at school a lot more than most.
She was self-less, and seemed happy, always smiling, never a boast.
I barely knew her, because she was fairly new in town.
Her family had only been eight or nine years around.
I called her husband to give him my sympathies and regret.
"She always wanted a friend," he told me, "But they just never met."
"She hanged herself in the garage, with a noose and a chair.
"It was last Monday, after her shift at the school fair."
I had no words of comfort I could give her husband or me.
That was the day she'd invited me to coffee or out to tea.
I told her I was too busy, and she had smiled sadly.
I had no idea it would hit her this terribly badly.
I felt anguish that I had spoken to Neve on her very last day.
I wish I had taken some time, to help her dream, hope, or pray.
I've learned my lesson, and I've learned it well, thanks to Neve O'Dine.
The next time a newbie needs my attention, I will carve out some time.
|