In The Ward Poem by RIC BASTASA

In the ward she was made to draw
A woman,
She complied
Started to draw a face
The eyes and ears
But without a mouth
Two legs
Without the hands,

The shrink says,
Was this woman
In your house
Not allowed to speak
Was she not allowed
To do?

Her mother
Wants to understand

The husband was
Not there.

In the house
She cannot speak
She did not do
Anything about it
Until she became so
Incomplete
And she did not
Know until she
Was made to draw
The woman’s

True face.