Why am I the Lucky One?

(I made the mistake of going to bed whining about things that in perspective were really dumb and trivial. And this was my dream.)

Why am I the Lucky One?

I dreamed I walked a road with another girl. She wore black. I wore green.

We talked and laughed until our road forked.

I got into my car and drove 12 hours to college,

She was shoved into a train and driven 96 hours to a camp,

I fumed and fussed at bad drivers and broken traffic lights,

She was licking her cracked lips and holding a broken arm, 

I told my Dad I was too tired to stay up and tell him about my trip,

She was told she would never see her Dad again.

I awoke the next morning to grumpily snooze a loud alarm,

She was woken by a rifle shot and an angry curse,

I opened my cupboard and couldn’t decide between cereals,

She was marched down a line to get a boiled turnip,

I worried about an unwritten essay and 70 pages of reading,

She was given a shovel to dig graves,

I complained about my boss and a few extra hours to work,  

She was afraid to slow down or her boss would shoot her brother,

At the day’s end,

I went home, wondering if my roommate's boyfriend would be over again,

She was marched to her bed, wondering if her roommate was alive,

I wondered why the radio station wouldn’t play anything good,

She was wishing she could hear music again,
I worry about impressing my date this weekend,
She was wishing the boy she liked were alive, 

I wished I weren’t out of eggs to make what I wanted,

She was handed one choice of old bread,

I forced my tired eyes to go read scriptures with a full light,

She was straining in the dark to read the one page of print she owned,

I went to bed with a roommate to wish good dreams,

She was holding a child coughing blood and praying he wouldn’t wake,

The next morning,

I put on my warm coat and grumbled about slogging in snow to school,

She was clutching at her thin shirt and watched her breath freeze,

I felt beaten by my professors’ criticism,

She was beaten to blood by her guards,

I closed my eyes and wished I weren’t at school,

She closed her eyes and wished she were in heaven.

I got into my shower and felt warm water, 

She was put into a shower and felt warm gas.

I left my shower.

She was carried from hers.

Two girls, one in black, one in green.
Both born with hopes and dreams.  
Both born under stars, hers a yellow pinned to her chest, mine on a flag, 

I am not any better than her - why am I the lucky one?