He lies in a hospital bed surrounded by machines,
He’s been asleep awhile; In fact, since last September;
The voices he heard have faded over time;
Eyes, hands, and smiles- there are none he can remember.

The inside of his eyelids is the only thing he sees;
The nurses talk about him as if he could not hear,
But a coma patient listens and hangs on to every word.
He cannot move or make a sound; there is one thing that he fears.

He hears the footsteps coming down the hall;
His son and wife have come to visit!
Their conversation floats to the place where he lies;
He strains to hear, afraid that he might miss it.

His son mentions the machine of life and
all at once he starts to feel frantic.
The machine that makes his heart beat;
“Please don’t turn it off,” he thinks in a panic.

The doctor heads toward the bed, about to pull the plug,
Fear surges through his body and opens up his eyes.
There is a very pregnant pause and everyone is still.
The son stands frozen with his lips echoing goodbyes.

“He’s awake!” exclaims the doctor.
The old man slowly sits up in his bed,
His eyes cross the room where they meet their mirrored pair.
“How could you even consider leaving me for dead?”

If the sound of a heart breaking could be heard,
everyone in that tiny room would know it.
His wife sobs in the corner, her face in her hands;
They almost took a life and didn’t even know it.