Schizophrenic Poem

A day begins
humming like a frustrated electrical
line waiting to pitch
to a place like New Hampshire--

Next door was watching a movie that had a rap in it they ate a warm breakfast a warm barrage first thing in the morning

Under what guard or pretense did the evaluation begin?

The psychiatrist looked at her as though she had spat a donkey at his feet.

She never knew when to double-knot her shoes

She watched a woman wipe condensation from a window--

Shoot another line down it.

When a baby, I got lost in the bowling alley, held the ball as it swerved down the lane.

the annual need for track lights, plush carpeting, silk sheets, dresses for holidays.

The girl with the narrowest back wins.

(The number of words she had reached matched the name of a common household cleaner, which soothed her. )

& chalk fell from crooks in the ceiling along with spiders, which dangled lasciviously between her and the door.

tissues in a black leatherette case for black leatherette purses, only hers was red linen

She had a face the color of ham bone!

and all she could think was There’s a café next door where you can get--… There’s a café next door where you can get… There’s a café next door where you can get.

She stood watching her head fall off. Nobody told her it was, so she just watched. Nothing fell out with it. She’d practiced many times over the years.

The man with the bitter tooth, whose arms fell into the well every time he walked by it.

She was being watched by spies.

Her marrow darkened as the night sped along.