Sadness

We discovered 'sadness' today

We discovered sadness today,
were mixing this and stirring that
when everyone suddenly sat down,
put their heads in their hands.
It started to rain, the telephone
rang and rang, the blinds were closed
with two or three blades bent,
garbage piled up on the step.
It was hours before anyone came
and there was a lot of disgust.
In rehab we were given flannelette
and fresh white pillows. No one
was allowed to bother us. We spent
a lot of the time dialing help lines.
"Are you suicidal?" the therapist asked.
We laughed. The kind of laugh
one gives to a cigarette, its slender form
like an orchid stem. In the end, they let us go
with a list of phone numbers
and a bus schedule. We gathered
in the foyer while the elevator
rose, and no one talked except
now and then, to say 'damn.'

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Blog update:

This weekend I updated my old website at judegoodwin.com - do drop over and check it out when you have a moment. There are some lovely reviews and I brought my publications list up to date as well. I’m going to start sharing (Friday and Monday) the different poems on that list. Someone liked them somewhere, so perhaps you will enjoy them as well ~

This poem, Sadness, has been workshopped a few places, and one of my mentors, Brian Brett, suggested I think of a new title - perhaps something more useful to the reader such as ‘At the lab’ - your thoughts?

Have a great week,

Jude

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