Brain Freeze

There are many words

That spin inside my head

And most of them remain,

Unsaid

I came across a man

Just the other night

Who become two men

Much to my delight

A man of many voices

Bouncing this way and that

With Machine gun speed

And a Rat, tat, tat

And when those voices spoke to him

He listened carefully

He chose his answers wisely

And smiled most merrily

“Shut up”

He said listen to the voices

And you may understand

That wherever they may take you

Is not at your command

Emboldened I sought refuge

In the words that he had said

And listen to those voices

Deep within my head

But my voices seem so frail

Most certainly not clever

They sound so weak and fragile

Like a badly tuned zither

“Oh shut up”

But I listen carefully

To see where they will go

And wander just like Alice

Down that sleepy rabbit hole

A hole so deep and welcoming

It spirals into emptiness

And Alice, lovely Alice

Grabs tightly to her dress

Alice, Alice,

Who the fuck is Alice

The words they pour so freely

And fall into the chalice

“Oh Just shut up”

And still they purr and murmur

Charged within their world

That is not mine, now welcoming

Lets see how it unfurls

I throw the words around

Leave them scattered on the floor

Where walls of white surround them

From wounds so deep they pour

Not my room this is

Not red and gaily pictured

Plain white and strangely clinical

And smells like iodine tincture

“Oh shut up”

I met that man the other night

The one inside my head

Who said to me to listen

Hear what my voices said

What my voices said

Was not what I write

They said that I should listen

Each and every night

And so I listen carefully

As they argue to and fro

Where will they finally end

I guess I’ll never know

“Why won’t you shut up?

Just give me some peace

Nurse, please give me my meds

I need some sleep”

© Fergus Martin

Apr 2013