THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE

It could have happened.
It had to happen.
It happened sooner. Later.
Nearer. Farther.
It happened not to you.

You survived because you were the first.
You survived because you were the last.
Because you were alone. Because of the people.
Because you turned left. Because you turned right.
Because the rain fell. Because a shadow fell.
Because sunny weather prevailed.

Luckily there was a wood.
Luckily there were no trees.
Luckily there was a rail, a hook, a beam, a brake,
a frame, a bend, a millimeter, a second.
Luckily a straw was floating on the surface.

Thanks to, because, and yet, in spite of.
What would have happened had not a hand, a foot, by a step, a hairsbreadth
by sheer coincidence.

So you're here? Straight from a moment still ajar?
The net had one eye hole, and you got through it?
There's no end to my wonder, my silence.
Listen
how fast your heart beats in me.

-Wislawa Szymborska