Welcome

 

Short Stories

 
“Short stories are tiny windows into other
worlds and other minds and other dreams...
journeys you can make to the far side of the
universe and still be back in time for dinner.”
               - Neil Gaiman

 

Poetry

"Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance."                                     
                                        -Carl Sandburg

Reason with Madness

You cannot help me

Nobody can

Holding me up

Will not make me stand

Inflating my lungs

Does not mean I’m breathing 

Covering my wounds

Does not stop them bleeding

I tell such lies

Say I am bending 

I snapped long ago

But say I am mending

The urge to please

Is one of my curses

Playing the part

To doctors and nurses

Making them feel

That I’m their success

When truly inside

I am a mess

I know my Illness

Know what they’ll say

I understand

What made me this way

But no matter my mind

I can’t change my feelings

The gatekeepers guarding

My chance at healing

I cannot reason

Not with the voice

She is emotion 

She isn’t a choice 

She isn’t objective

Nor can she listen

She isn’t whole

There are parts of her missing

enjoy the walk

 

 

Once in the asylum

They read us a poem

We sat around in silence

Expressions made of stone

 

They read it out aloud

And asked us what it meant

A man was walking on a road

That up ahead was bent

 

The point it made was simple

We cannot see ahead

All we have is here and now

Enjoy the walk instead

 

They read it out again

We got the message clear

Stop and smell the roses now

And don’t give in to fear

 

Three of us were there

Sick and tired and scared

And now there’s only two of us

For one of us is dead

 

And now I see her face

And fear the road ahead

The unknown bend is perilous

It’s not just in my head

Psych Ward

Three months on the sofa

Spent falling down

Then three weeks a dead tree

Stuck in the ground

Unable to fool them

Unable to eat

Unable to wash

Or get to my feet

I can’t bear to stay

But can’t even leave

Ground down to nothing

A body that breathes

And now I am stuck here

Wondering how long

It will take to recover

To heal and be strong

You battle a dragon

But you cannot win

Your body gets weary

And overly thin

The dragon breaks you

You no longer fight

He prowls round the hospital

Growling all night

He waits while they shield you

And play with your meds

Help you to stand again

Make sure you’re fed

And when you’re released

And you walk outside

The dragon is there

His grin sharp and wide

How long will you last

The battle begins

How long will you live

Because you cannot win