Comatose

In an irrevocable warp speed instant, 
my head collided into the likeness of drying tar, 
absorbing each horrid layer of concrete. 
That pitch-black, tacky substance covered my body, 
so that I was trapped, sightless, into immobility. 

With pounding pain, like a full force baseball bat swing 
to the skull, like a head cold amplified myriad times, 
my brain screamed for release 
inside walls of perpetual pressure, 
with nerve spasms massively extending 
beyond the central blow. 

The stench of blood-covered latex gloves 
and hand sanitizer attempting to halt disease, 
had me guessing that I was in a medical facility. 
I could taste metal, as if I was becoming part machine, 
conforming to constant monitor beeps. 

Morphine drips slipped me into hallucinations, 
or maybe just distressing dreams. 

My opaque mind tingled for air, breath gasping 
like an incessant snore, mouth slightly ajar. 
I imagined drools somewhere, but felt no dampness. 

Numbness soon overcame most pain, 
setting me into a panic of possible lost limbs, 
lost neck, lost head. 

Dread of the unknown 
cast me into a guarded sensation of
always falling, anticipating the jarring end. 

Unable to scratch intermittent itches 
or ask for assistance, I twitched inwardly, 
trapped in a corridor of horrors, 
with siren flashes passing through the darkness, 
running for a door or window to open, 
or if locked, to kick vigorously 
through this mind prison. 

There are no doors. There are no windows. 

Only echoed pounding of 
familiar voices floating 
surrounded me. 

I could smell my wife's Tea Rose perfume 
upon approach, accompanied by 
my three mostly grown daughters 
with their authentic scent of home. 

Some named friends and acquaintances 
came at arbitrary times. 
Some offered slurred words in somber tones. 
Some were simply saturated in silence. 
All were drenched with unspeakable grief. 

Each loved one's screaming drop of saline 
made me cry inside, but I doubt it seeped outwardly. 
I longed to reach out to wipe away their liquid sorrow, 
but my muscles were limp, each limb 
like a redwood tree branch in stagnant air.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2019

Poem

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Rodrigues Avatar
November 24, 2019 at 12:11 PM
You let your mind go into the abyss of the coma. So well done. reminded by this: Morphine drips slipped me into hallucinations, or maybe just distressing dreams...when my cousin’s family was told to say goodbye (i prayed relentlessly - she didn’t) my cousin later told me of a presence within her comatose sleep...something evil. They wrote up papers calling her awakening a miracle. She stayed for a year and saw her daughter married...more things after her death... Terrific write! Great imagery!
Ligon Avatar
November 24, 2019 at 3:05 PM
Thanks for sharing a personal story, Kim. I welcome any others. Prayer sure is a powerful thing. Blessings.
Somadas Avatar
November 20, 2019 at 10:48 PM
Beautifully penned...
Somadas Avatar
November 20, 2019 at 11:30 PM
Yes.. Hearing is the last sense desert from us..
Ligon Avatar
November 20, 2019 at 11:11 PM
Thanks, Jenish. One of my close friends was in a coma following a near death car accident. She said she could hear everything, but couldn't respond, like being in a dream.
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