leonardcohenforum.com

Ward South 7
day autumnal
30 degrees
The sign reads:
‘ECT’
Sam’s had three
but she’d kill
for diazepam
or speed
or a fatherly kiss

John plays
leapfrog with
prunes and
watery ice cream -
he avoids your eyes
with blatant
denials of
long ago truths
dishevelled dreams
divorcee backlash

Chlorpromazine
200 milligrams to
tame psychoses,
balance to fit
lithium, risperidone
clonazepam to sleep
And it cascades over
the nodes of your mind
unaware of the moon
fucking with the Cosmos -
our elegant lies

On narrow bed
your head squeezed
into rubber pillows
a woman cries
for help
over and over
You do nothing
three nurses involved
in computer dogma
they do nothing

You tell ‘em
your story
again and again
calculator minds
razor sharp
digest the husk
theories clean
all in vogue
a brother’s suicide
colour-coded
neatly in the
waste paper bin

You lock your-
self in, sit on
the toilet, shit
and remember a
time called ‘balance’
when you woke
in the morning
naked with ciggie
daring each other
to make coffee

And you bang
your weary head. You
failed again. Succumbed
You are weak. Not worthy
Lower than a lawyer
Piss weak. Small
A bipolar fruitcake
A poor, penniless bastard
A fucken’ failure
A wretch
And nothin’ in religion
does it anymore
no philosophy
psychotherapy
Nothin’ soothes the pain
this horrible emptiness
this damned blue sky

You turn on Tacoma Trailer

Adam... the end made me laugh out loud...

... I paused (in a good sense, I mean) at fatherly kiss... and... fucking with the Cosmos - our elegant lies (or, how that reads in the context of the whole passage)...

I have a mentally ill twin brother, and his meds, and my fear of his suicide, are conjured for me when reading this poem... so I appreciated the ending!!

v i o l e t (I may be back once it's more digested... and if you like, that is)... (need to go nighty night now)...

Violet, I don't know your brother. Don't know if he has a mental illness.

But I know his world does. And it has one with bells on!

Boss

I like this one Boss!

I paused (in a good sense, I mean) at fatherly kiss...

I, too, paused at this one with its simple truth.


~ Lizzy

Boss, the title "Ward South 7" brought back long ago memories of Larundel. It has been closed many years.

It's sad that some things never change.

BM