THREE POEMS 1-9-18
The Night My Sister Married My Dad
sick with voices
between rooms
after escaping a bad situation
now at my parent’s house
after my father’s kid brother
had intervened
mother called me upstairs to the sewing room
where she had made a makeshift bedding
please lay down and go to sleep
sister came up
followed by my father
I want you to leave
you don’t belong here
why? I asked
cause I’m here now
I have nowhere to go
go to the hospital
they won’t let me in
tell them you want to kill yourself
my mother would no longer be acknowledged
she had been replaced
by her leering triumphant daughter
as my father beamed
behind his new bride
The First Visit
walking down the long white hallway
arm in arm
with a girl who whispered
mickey mouse is undressing me
into a room
where a woman with no eyes
asks me
what’s going on
I told her
that girl said
mickey mouse is undressing me
the woman with no eyes tells me
you’re hearing voices
it’s not the same
she said
mickey mouse is undressing me
that was real
the woman with no eyes told me
you need medication
you must stay longer
then out the door
back down the long white hallway
whispers
droning silence
The First Test
into a room
chairs on either side
plastic doll lady
rigid smile
crayon and coloring book
in front of me
why are you giving these to me
so you can relax
I am not a child
do you refuse to participate
you need to color within the lines
to let us know
that you want to get better
if you don’t
you’ll have to stay longer
I didn’t realize
but I had failed
the first test