It was the evening of New Year’s and all through my home
You could hear a pin drop as my son answered the phone
“It’s the police,” my son said, as he passed it to his mother’s hand
Soon dad will be home, won’t that be just grand.
They had been waiting all night for me to come home
I was just out with the guys, getting stoned
How was I to know they would be of anguished fright?
As they sat with their dreaded fears all through the night
They came to the hospital to see for themselves
It seems because of an accident I was not in good health
I was in a coma and having bad dreams
Oh! Dear God, if you could just take away the screams
The ringing in my ears, if time had no end
A deathly message to my mind it does send
Why didn’t I listen to my Family I so loved?
Then maybe I would not hear these screams from above
I was only out with the guys to have a good time
It was not my fault I did not see that double line
We only had a few drinks, or was it more?
My mind is so mixed up, my head is so sore
Why is it that my family and friends seem to be laughing at me?
Yet! The tears in their eyes I can plainly see
This is not a time to laugh I am in pain,
It seems to be that they’re all putting the blame on me
The room is getting darker, I can just about see
Why it is this morbid cold air now surrounds me?
Open this door, can’t you see I am not dead?
It’s just a slight pain I now have in my head
Why won’t they listen to my cries and pleads?
If only my heart would beat, instead of bleed
At last they have come to set me free
Why are they putting these fancy clothes on me?
The time is passing so fast I can just about see
Why are my loved ones crying over me?
All I can hear are their screams and their cries
One would think that I had just died
It’s morning now I must have fallen asleep
Why is this new bed they gave me so soft and so deep?
At last the pain is gone and I lie here alone
Beneath myself, dug grave and inscriptive stone
Forgive me God, I was just out with the guys
If I had not had those drinks, I would still be alive
I should have listened to my children when they said,
“Don’t drink and drive, Daddy, or soon you will be dead.’
Peter A. Todd
Friend St., Gloucester
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