the halls of West Jefferson

 
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.