Friday, December 17, 2010

Big Tent poetry prompt - Dead Man Poetry

The Dead Psych Patient

Roaming the halls mumbling to herself she knows she seems crazier
Than usual; they will never let her out if she keeps this up
She doesn’t much care, the food’s not that bad
And she’s not cooking it, so that’s a plus
The voices in her head blend with the voices on the ward
Until pretty soon they’re indistinguishable; she’s not sure that’s a bad thing
The itch to cut her wrists has gone from vertical to horizontal so she considers
Herself no longer suicidal just attention-seeking, a vast improvement
Sometimes she wonders if sanity is over-rated, most time she knows it is.

More Dead Psych Patient Poetry

Pretty much like Picasso, she sees herself as a master scam artist, fooling them all
There’s nothing wrong with her head or in it – she just has their number
Knows which buttons to push and when, and is not afraid at all
The loony bin is a refuge par excellence, she thinks, and crawls into it every chance she gets
Every now and again she feels a twinge, a flick in the synapses that gets her wondering
If maybe there might be something just a bit wrong with her after all
She knows it’s silly and there’s nothing to be gained by going down that road
But sometimes, she can’t help herself; there are things for which she has no explanation
She tries not to dwell on them but she is not always successful, not at all.

9 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this. I like the contrast between her as a scam artist and Picasso.

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  2. This is somehow a very comforting poem. Your dead psych patient knows when she's well off, so she's not at all daft!

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  3. I wonder if we've all wondered at one time or another. :) Great read, thanks!

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  4. This was GREAT! It was poignant, and it also made me laugh in spots, especially about not having to cook!

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  5. the dead psych patient is very politically incorrect -- which makes me have such great affection for it!! :) great combination.

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  6. thanks so much for the comments all! It's an interesting form and needs much polishing and reworking I think but I would be willing to try it again I think ...

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  7. So very self-aware. I like that focus, ability to claim a place, the oddly comforting voice.

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  8. Darkly humorous and a little bit creepy... she seems rather at home in the psych ward. Kudos to your protagonist for that, and to you for penning her thoughts so well. :)

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