031. Inside The Asylum Poem by Jaden Knight
031. Inside The Asylum
Strapped inside a tight straight jacket
I regain consciousness
my head is spinning like an old top
I open my eyes slowly
looking at the white padded walls
I try to rise
but am unable to move
It was my mind for me to use
not for them to play with
asking me silly questions
and making notes
or muttering observations
to a battered tape recorder
They think I have lost my mind
but it was mine to give away
to who it was passed
does not matter any more
I can’t get it back for some time
Screams of the other inmates
echo round the cells
chasing the hysterical laughter
of those next door
I still have my heart
beating inside my chest
they can’t take it away
nor can they play with that
as I still love
I finally rise from the cold floor
stumbling to the window
looking out at the trees
and listening to the bird
I stumble to the bed
and fall back onto it
the white straight jacket
cuts into my arms
as I roll into a ball
and begin to howl
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/3/2024 7:09:17 AM # 1.0.0.1119
wow! Profanisaurus, another fantastic poem! ! and I saw some mention of a dream in poet’s note I think, so I won’t worry that someone has to spoon feed you at the asylum. I’ve never been in an asylum, but I was in two emergency rooms within about 5 years not long before I retired. and I was there because I had mentioned [just mentioned/implied that I might kill myself some day. yeah, suicide. a great outlet for boredom and other troubles or, in my case perhaps just in case I felt I’d had enough of life and cared to leave the resources to others [and have Planned Parenthood collect some life insurance money]. yes, I was ‘arrested’ [“mental health arrests”] and take to local hospitals for ‘psychiatric observation’. the first time it happened, I objected to having to put my clothes in a plastic bag and get into a hospital gown. to do that I started to walk from the little room I was in towards the nursing station. a ‘guard’ claimed I pushed him aside [I think HE was hallucinating! ! ]. before I had time to take another step I was forced back into the little room, place on the ‘gurney/stretcher/bed’ and confronted with about five guys. one of them bent one of my thumbs back a bit, and another was threatening to give me a shot. then the angelic and good-looking female nurse called them all off. but I was strapped to the bed for a couple hours or so. interesting experience. I was kept about 24 hours. the next time (to a different hospital, several years later) I knew enough to hide some of my belongings (like set of keys) under my mattress. I was released in a few hours. both times I was ‘arrested’ at work, while I was a window clerk at a post office. also interesting! ! thanks for sharing your dream, P. to MyPoemList for sure! bri :) off to Europe in two days. : (