Upon the water

Upon the water
she tossed the white rose petals
pulled off the flower one by one.

Watching them drift down the river,
standing so quietly under the summer sun,
her eyes beset with a somber stare,
before a hint of a curl
briefly brushes across her lips.

Flickers of seconds from January dart through her mind,
recalling sitting in terror in the passenger seat,
as the jumbo jet was falling from the sky,
crashing into the icy river.

Then the moments of pure horror and confusion
when the waters flooded the plane,
people screaming, desperately trying to get outside.

In the chilling depths, passengers were too frozen
to try and swim for shore.
They waited as the helicopters came
and lowered their wires to rescue.

One single elderly male passenger, looking so much in pain,
big bleeding gash on his forehead,
kept passing the harness to others.

At last only he and the woman were left,
she tried to get him to take it, but he refused.

Slowly, she put it on,
his voice, weak and exhausted,
whispering to her, "please remember me"
before he sank below the surface,
body never found,
yet always seen in her heart.