A five-minute snooze

In my dreams I had been tracked down

By a wolf, and a bear, and an old toy clown.
The alarm went off, and I hit the floor,
And I groped for snooze, and I slept five more.
I did not then know, I did not then see
I had just sealed off what my life would be.

I was five minutes late to the parking lot,
So I missed the woman deep in thought,
Who’d locked her keys on the driver’s seat
(She was gone by then, so we did not meet),
So I didn't help, and she didn't laugh
At the joke I’d heard from the office staff.

And we didn't date, and we didn't wed,
And we never named Danielle and Ed,
And we never saw them cross the stage,
And we didn’t help each other age,
And we never did the China trip,
And I wasn’t there when she broke her hip.

I did not then know, I did not then see
I had just sealed off what my life would be.
And I never learned what a life I’d lost,
What a five-minute snooze in the morning cost.