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Poem Details  

Title: What I Learned in the Mental Hospital
Author: Meredith Sloan
Date Submitted: 12/3/2013

 
Poem: 1. Get your own water
I stumbled out of my room
in a lithium daze
4 a.m.?
“Water,” I gasped,
and the tech in the black scrubs
pointed to the machine.
“You’ll need a cup first,” he added.
2. Go to group
I spent most of group time
half asleep.
Counting minutes.
Glazing over other people’s stories.
But I always talked
when it was my turn.
Someone listened.
So I went.
3. Sharpen the crayons
I felt like a child,
probably because I am one,
but the swirls of wax color
over the grid of a crossword puzzle
helped me feel like a genius
or at least
a human capable
of something
like art....