What if I died and you were not here <br />If you were far, far away <br />And I died while you were gone. <br />Would you hear of it soon? <br />How would you be reached? <br />By telephone? By mail? <br />In what fashion, in what way <br />Would they tell you that <br />I died while you were gone. <br />Or would they not think <br />To hunt you down and tell you. <br />Would they even know you'd care? <br />What if they buried me somewhere <br />And did not tell you how or when <br />Until it was too late, <br />And my grave was grown over <br />Choked and clotted with weeds <br />So that you could not find me? <br />What if they tried, but could not find <br />You anywhere upon the globe? <br />And somewhere in some foreign world <br />You were laughing and speaking <br />In a tongue I'd never known <br />Living for weeks in ignorance <br />Laughing, not knowing <br />I had died – what if? <br />Until finally you return home <br />With gifts for me, strange things <br />You had collected, <br />And I am not there waiting. <br />You wonder what could possibly <br />Detain me from meeting you, <br />So you get a little angry <br />And call my house. <br />But I do not answer. <br />So you would drive to our <br />Favorite restaurant <br />And there you would discover <br />My family, sitting silently, <br />Gaping at you. <br />“Where have you been? ” <br />You will stare in confusion, <br />And then they will tell you how <br />I died, and you were not here <br />For you were far, far away <br />And I died while you were gone.<br /><br />Sophia White<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/what-if-i-died-and-you-were-not-here/
