Madness Poem by Marea Johnson

'Come inside and sit right down',
the doctor told me with a frown.
'Now what's the problem in your head?
Why do you wish that you were dead? '

I laughed and laughed and couldn't stop,
then finally said, 'Now listen Doc...'
'Since you asked, I'll tell you why
I only seem to want to die.'

'There's birth and death and in between
is something that is so obscene.'
'You only live to one day die,
so why prolong the insipid lie? '

'You keep on living, all in vain.
Can't you see it's just a game? '

'What you have will all be tossed.
All you've found will soon be lost.'

'All you've made will spoil and rotten.
The good you've done will be forgotten.'

'Here today, gone tomorrow.
Our time on earth is only borrowed.'

'None of it's real, it's all an illusion.
And that's why I've come to the perfect solution.'

'So now there you have it, and now you know why,
all that I live for is one day to die.'