Photography © Karen A. Szklany

 

Robyn Deals With Life

A screw loose is it,
the brain like a car door
that could fly off at any moment.
Even at slow speeds,
there’s still the risk
of it falling by the roadside
and the mind
rolling into the gutter
or burning up on tar.
You reckon you’re that fruitcake
with all the nuts
or the pack of cards
with half a suit missing.

You’re in your kitchen
struggling to explain to me
why the rocker you’ve been on
these past years
will no longer support you,
or how your thoughts
are nothing more than short circuits,
sparks of senselessness
that burn like crazy hell.

You thought it was other people
causing it
but now you’re sure
the gibberish, the goofiness,
is all down to you.
You’re wacky, you’re insane,
you tell me.
You go through life
like a spokeswoman
for mercury poisoning
and sanity can’t get a look in.

I try to explain to you that a truly mad person
doesn’t know they’re cuckoo.
That’s all you need to hear.
Start feeling better about yourself
and you’ll be loonier than ever.

 

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident. Latest book is Covert available from Amazon. Collects early editions of Mad Magazine, is allergic to cats and believes that the optimum media for music is the 45 rpm vinyl single.

Karen A. Szklany was born in New York and now lives in a New England co-housing community. She is the author of several collections of poetry, gardening books and Unitarian Universalist sermons. Karen also serves as a Life Healing and Transformation Coach on the labyrinth path.