Life in a state hospital circa 1900

Many trapped in their own hell
Are either deranged, aged or unwell
The guests who chose to stay aloof
Lie wrapped in rugs upon the roof
A statue with a gas-lamp torch
Has toppled over on the porch
The way others wish to go
Have been obscured by drifted snow
Unknown objects falling from the air
The careful stroller better beware
It's known that the skating pond conceals
A family of enormous eels
Those who have escaped can die with dignity
Tortured, raped & beaten by the malignity
The monuments above the dead
Are too eroded to be read
A century later, we know very little about these patients
If staff only treated them like people, with caring & a little patience.