Coma Poem by Leigh Ladd

The coma came and I wanted to shout,
I want out and then they came,
The dreams of death that made me feel ashamed.

Ashamed that I had to make the decision,
Who should live, who should die,
Just as long as it was not I.

The battle plagued on for days and days,
From murder, suicide, disaster, disease,
It always had to end in a casualty.

Mother or father,
It had to be one.
Sister or brother,
How could I choose who should have won?

People I didn't even know,
Shot themselves with a gun,
Their blood strewn in the snow.

Water that drowned,
Fires that desiccated,
Earthquakes that desecrated.

Bodies in which cancer was riddled,
The man who went on a murder rampage,
The plane that crashes that leaves families in dismay.

It alarms me and sometimes makes me cry,
I had a part in these people's fate even though untrue,
In order for myself to stay alive,
I had to decide who should live and who should die.