The Madness

18/07/2020 –  Poem a Day Compilation


As the walls closed in

And the darkness fell

The sounds of the night

Crept into her ears

Her hands clamping about her head

Holding in what sanity remained

Against the screeches and screams

From beyond the brick walls

Of this lonely and lonesome place

From which there was no escape,

No distraction and no respite

Despite the frenzy of prayers

In this godforsaken place

To a non-existent deity

For a freedom that will never come

When lunacy takes hold of those

Who stand outside the door

That they no longer understand

What is right and wrong

And buy into the hysteria

Of the latest fad treatments

With no thought of the consequences

Of testing procedures on the manic

Without their permission

Or even their knowledge

Hidden from scrutiny by demented laws

Serving a master as unsound of mind

As those incarcerated in psychiatric wards

For indeterminate periods of time

Under the auspices of mental health

A true derangement of a system

Meant to protect the world from the insane

And the depressed from themselves

While the unstable run the asylum 

Which makes the rest of us mad.

In battle

Here I sit in quiet contemplation

Regretting all I didn’t say to you

Knowing I couldn’t say it, still

Wanting to be more brave,

Or perhaps more stupid, than before

Because I’ve wanted to tell you

So many times up til this point.

Maybe you know but can’t say

For the same reasons that I can’t

And all that’s keeping us from each other

Is a thirty year old pledge

As worthless as the paper it’s written on.

I didn’t have the courage fifteen years ago,

When we sat together for what felt like forever,

And you confessed to me that it was simply

A vow you had made and couldn’t break.

I was afraid of what you were telling me

And relieved that you didn’t ask it of me

But now my feelings are conflicted

And I don’t know if I want to give in

Or be stronger than I ever thought possible.

I wish I could have relied on Dutch courage,

And been open and honest with you,

Because I’d carry any baggage you had,

I’d take the weight of the world on my shoulders

And receive the guilt that was laid at my door.