A woman stands on the side of the road
Not on the side walk but not quite in the street
Standing on the gutter’s front step
She is motionless as cars streak past in a blur
They do not stop for her, they don’t even see her
As she stands on the edge of their awareness
But very much in the middle of her own mind
She watches the cars as they past
You can see her lips move but they make no noise
Maybe she is asking them to slow down
Maybe she is asking them to speed up
Or maybe she is asking for a prayer
To save her soul for what she is about to do

She closes her eyes and takes a step away from the side walk
One step closer to the street
One step farther away from the world she once knew
Then another and another and still the cars don’t stop
She can no longer hear them
Just feel them as their tires reverberate on the blacktop
Like the hum of a hummingbird only inches from her ears
She will not stop for them she has someone she must meet
She is dancing with death, her feet flat on the ground
Still she keeps moving as the cars get closer and closer
As she moves farther and farther away from the curb
Until she is in the middle of the road

She turns and faces traffic and opens her eyes
To a bright light encompassing her
For a single moment she can feel God
She opens her arms to embrace it with a soft smile
As the car slams on its brakes and stops
Only inches from her face
She heaves a heavy sign not of fear but relief
She lowers her arms slowly with a little smile on her face
Then turns away and begins to walk the other direction
Continuing her crusade across black top
With the remembrance of the lights
That had so recently filled her mind
She held that little moment deep within her heart

A moment where she and death almost touched hands
She had seen him stretching out his long bony fingers
To graze against her face, cool and smooth
Only to be pulled away at the last moment
It was also a moment
Where she stood within arms reach of God
Close enough to brush her fingers against his outstretched palm
Both stood on one side of the street
Separated by cars, by busy people
Unaware of whom they were in the presence of
She held both their hands for a moment
And walked away unscathed but with a new smile
That held death and god on each corner
As she walked away from that road
From one side walk to another
She had met death and god
And walked away from both