Thirteen Seconds

a woman from my town
jumped from a bridge

there was a creek nearby
ten feet wide, two feet deep

and

and I didn't know her
but we thought about it
her jumping to her death

and we calculated
at the height she jumped from
at her speed while she was falling
it took her thirteen seconds
to fall to her death

thirteen seconds

she thought
for thirteen seconds
before she died

and the thing is,
she might fall
through the nearby tree branches
and we thought about that

the silver maple trees
might hold her back,
slow her down

well, she hit those trees
and they didn't save her
so this is what I think of
those thirteen seconds,
give or take

that's what I think of