http://forthelonghaul.org/blogweb/index.php?/archives/3-Talent-Show-Poem...

“A little over four months ago I was in a mental hospital for about a month. In the U.S., mental illness is something not talked about and we are taught to feel a lot of shame around and feel that we are alone. For this reason I feel it is important to be open about mental illness. And so, I dedicate this poem to all of you who struggle with mental illness.”

 

Mental Gift

Poppin' pills daily - got me crazy,
insurance co-pays track me weighly.
Addictions got me locked in ways I never knew to be;
meekly evade the subliminal toxicity;
lifetime supply prescribed,
neatly packaged individually;
separate and alone,
I watch my mind disengage to the beat of a metronome;
see through to the strings of the master
who controls the puppets dome.
Judgment cut by the
shrieks-of-sirens-,
-sarrenating-souls-in-the-search-for-solace.-
-Solstice-emanating-from-the-tides-of-oceans-,
-throwing-me-on-my-side-,
-hands-stretched-out,-raw-and-vulgar.
Moving through the motions
that the doctor diagnosed me.
Self-medicate with the herbs of the earth,
yet clenched fists give birth to doubt doubling over;
hover half-way,
my head slouched on my shoulder.
Sun circles me,
mother earth knows no border;
salutes to the sun,
I mentally evade rockets and mortar.
Torn-by-the-fast-track-politricks-
-manifesting-disorder.-
-Mind-melting-missions-mock-monopolistic-murders-;
-she's-turning-tricks-cause-money-is-the-herder;
hurting her,
gasping for air,
breath in deeply,
look to the third-eye, heart,
and sip slowly from the dried up well of water.
To the tongue,
pasty pills numb the mind,
while loves come in waves
and always pushes back harder.
Throw my hands in the air,
rock the hips,
pump the fists,
cause the fight for dignity
will always be my true order.