Hospital Collection: Admission

Admission

The police take me to the hospital
while  a paramedic goes through my bag,
looking for a death wish and ID.
She takes the broken glass and razorblades
as the constable holds me hostage
for my attack with limbs and words.
A crowd gathers
and my hands bleed
from scratching them to pieces.

A security guard keeps me prisoner
in a hospital back room and
I lash out and run.
I’m tackled to the ground
and I scream and fight,
knocking over medical equipment
with doctors and psychiatrists
screaming at me to calm down.
Behind the curtain they say I’m
catatonic with violent episodes.
They say it’s “Mad Monday”
and I’m just another casualty.
They say I have a history
of mental illness.
But they forget to tell me
how to breathe.