First Responder

Mama, I saved a life today
That boy would have died
But we broke those binds
And gave him the breath of life

They say you’re a hero
Cape and all
Swooping in and saving
Teenagers from hanging

But mama
I don’t feel like I saved a life
I saw someone who almost died
I held his head like a life line
Begging God to keep him alive

I screamed for scissors
To cut the rope that he had tied
A child never felt so heavy
I screamed for him to open his eyes

Mama, they don’t say
Being a hero would be so hard
The cape I wear feels so heavy
It drags me down, I can’t even fly

Mama, they never told me
When I close my eyes
I still see that boy’s neck tightly bound
Squeezing the air right out of him

Mama did you know
How fast the skin turns purple
When oxygen isn’t pumping
Through your veins

They never say
How hard your fingers ache
From trying to unravel
A hangman’s knot

Or how your heart pounds
Like it’s beating out of your chest
Afterwards when it’s all done
You can’t stop the tears from coming

But Mama, I saved a life today.