Committed Poem by Alicia Patti

Committed

Rating: 5.0


Why did Nurse Ratched think
she had dibs on all the nuts in the bag?
The little power she enjoyed pushed her
over the edge. I was there, I know:
brooding over maniacal technicians presiding
over the hopelessly deluded, passing out their
pitiful pacifiers. But not me. NO!
I was completely sane.

Endogenous depression, they said,
is all in the head:
'Who is the President of the United States?
Interpret Early to bed and early to rise...
How about a stitch in time
saves nine? '

I knew the answers, of course -
but then came the shock treatments...

I was cured, they said,
when they let me go.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Paula Robinson 11 February 2007

Fabulous Alicia! Sounds very much like the story of my life...although believing that you're sane doesn't always make it so! ; -) Paula x

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Jerry Hughes 08 February 2007

...any wonder it was called a cuckoo's nest, in Australia she was know as Nurse Ratshit

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David Harris 04 February 2007

Alicia, I like this and could certainly relate to the Nurse Ratchetts of this world. I've had my depressive moments, through bereavement, writer's block as they call it and simple stress. Luckily I didn't need the shock treatments to come out it. Great poem and thanks for sharing it. David

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