the Halls of West Jefferson

Blundering into straight jackets

hugging carpet in white rooms

meals in milligrams  

instead of

conventional means

fifty six degrees is painful

in paper thin costumes

the acrid smell of linoleum and disinfectant 

Steve's shit smeared on 

the activities table

playing monopoly with

a murderer    Yahtzee with

  7 personalities  

television with Lenny pressing

into the night

a plot of pure Psychosis  

engineering our escape

the scenes a bit of charade

a scheme 

we keep it.

Good company: just two in blue

a gown for me & a gown for you

I  say you must, at least once

Take some time off 

Unwind in a ward

now,

understand  that piss and shit

look just the same  

on the wall 

as they do in the toilet. 

I'm a better individual, honestly,

 for touring the psych wards

  as frequently as i did 

which was more regular  

Than a pentecostals church attendance

 a turtle has a shell for safety

the Ward has a device

called a turtle suit  

barbarian.

straps and restraints

 that emaciated you

  with their demeanor

a cage

of buckles and iron growing together

Convoluting this 

 the electric  

chair or the iron  

cages that sank with  

witches

in a trial for heresy  

I imagine the lot of us

 in these halls would

 suffer the same.

time cannot take away

 stigma any more

than it can take away hate

I turn the corner

scenes  

as horrifying

as being no one

just as it's always

been;

desolate

sterile and motion-

less with a glaze

from eye to eye  

The last thing they  

take is not pleasant

to be disemboweled

with music and medics

 that no one can hear  

 the melody 

 or see

  the diagnosis  

it's 6:45 when  

the parade starts

300 mg of Seroquel

100 mg of Lithium

60 mg of Thorazine

they go down harshly  

most days

I know that this is

       a death

all of its own  

and in it

lies

a whole population

that starts dying at

 6:45

I just as much prefer

Quick defeat  

Maybe  I miss a meal  

and find my ticket to the  

pavement

after 14 flights 

and one impulsive  

 

fuck it. 

 

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