A Real Life Nightmare Poem by Gert Strydom

It feels like another life
and had been at another time
and place,
where I knocked and knocked
at the locked bedroom door.

At last I found a key
and still something
was holding it
and I pushed with all my might
and at last it opened.

She was lying on the bed
with outstretched arms
and empty pill bottles
next to her head
and there was no note
to say farewell
and why she did it,
to this day
only she can tell.

She was still breathing
and I felt a weak pulse
and I was without strength
from flu,
but I picked her up
and got her over my shoulder.

The car was too far
and there was nobody
willing to help me
and I stumbled over my weak legs
and got hold of her again
and carried her to the car.

I passed over three red robots
without any car’s being there
and she belched over
my shirt and pants
and just before the state hospital
two metro police cars
started to follow me
with flashing blue lights
and screaming sirens.

I stopped at the ambulance
drop-off point
and was cursed by ambulance men
that was standing there,
and the metro police
rushed to me
took a look at her
and went on their way
and nobody wanted to help.

Anger gave me strength
and I carried her
into the hospital
and went straight through admissions
and followed the red line
to casualties
and somebody
brought a wheelchair
and some doctor
saved her life.

The doctor said that the belching
saved her,
but today I am just glad
that she’s out of my life
and that I do not have to face
another nightmare.