Post by Groks on Apr 25, 2008 8:53:22 GMT -6
Also, in order for any of these poems to make sense, I went through the whole experience of "drying out" off of lithium with the very bare minimum of some (but not even all) of my other medications. Why I wasn't allowed to take my usual, larger dosages, I do not know.
Losing Lithium 3
“They're coming to take me away
HO HO HEE HEE HA HA”
I can't help but think of this song
While being transported
From the hospital
To the psych ward
Across town
I refrain from singing it
So the nice ambulance guys
(no sirens, just a ride)
Won't think I've lost my mind
And where is Nurse Ratched*
When you need her?
I stand in lines for pills
A daily occurrence three times a day
Just a nice nurse holding
What's left of our sanities
In her palm
And what, no basket weaving??
They take us (like a herd of cattle)
To the craft room
Beads and crayons
And maybe some glue
But no half-finished baskets
I feel like a giant ball of anxiety
All of the time
Stretching, squeezing my mind and body
And twisting my gut
Knotting my nerves
It never relents
Not through group therapy sessions
(many, many sessions)
Nor reading in the rec room
Or going up to the gym to exercise
At breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Watching John Wayne movies
(I usually hate westerns
but what else was there to do)
I want to bolt, just run as fast as I can
To get out of here already!!
And eat my own food
Sleep in my own bed
See my husband and kid
NOT just on “Visitor's Night”
But security has us in
Ever, ever so tight
Pink Floyd's “On the Run”**
Beats through my mind
I'll never listen to that music
The same again
Yet on the surface
I play it cool, trying to act
Ever so sane
So maybe they'll let me GO HOME
Soon
-k.s. April 2008
* Nurse Ratched was a frightening and power-hungry nurse at a mental hospital in the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".
** An instrumental piece from Pink Floyd's album "Dark Side of the Moon", that gives a good image of someone running. URL from youtube:
youtube.com/watch?v=hBcY9HGqehE
Losing Lithium 3
“They're coming to take me away
HO HO HEE HEE HA HA”
I can't help but think of this song
While being transported
From the hospital
To the psych ward
Across town
I refrain from singing it
So the nice ambulance guys
(no sirens, just a ride)
Won't think I've lost my mind
And where is Nurse Ratched*
When you need her?
I stand in lines for pills
A daily occurrence three times a day
Just a nice nurse holding
What's left of our sanities
In her palm
And what, no basket weaving??
They take us (like a herd of cattle)
To the craft room
Beads and crayons
And maybe some glue
But no half-finished baskets
I feel like a giant ball of anxiety
All of the time
Stretching, squeezing my mind and body
And twisting my gut
Knotting my nerves
It never relents
Not through group therapy sessions
(many, many sessions)
Nor reading in the rec room
Or going up to the gym to exercise
At breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Watching John Wayne movies
(I usually hate westerns
but what else was there to do)
I want to bolt, just run as fast as I can
To get out of here already!!
And eat my own food
Sleep in my own bed
See my husband and kid
NOT just on “Visitor's Night”
But security has us in
Ever, ever so tight
Pink Floyd's “On the Run”**
Beats through my mind
I'll never listen to that music
The same again
Yet on the surface
I play it cool, trying to act
Ever so sane
So maybe they'll let me GO HOME
Soon
-k.s. April 2008
* Nurse Ratched was a frightening and power-hungry nurse at a mental hospital in the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".
** An instrumental piece from Pink Floyd's album "Dark Side of the Moon", that gives a good image of someone running. URL from youtube:
youtube.com/watch?v=hBcY9HGqehE
