Disclaimer: I did not write this poem.

(I didn't feel like I could find a picture to top this.)

The Madness Vase

Andrea Gibson

The nutritionist said I should eat root vegetables,
said if I could get down thirteen turnips each day
I would be grounded, rooted.
Said my head would not keep flying away to where the darkness lives.

The psychic told me my heart carries too much weight,
said for twenty dollars she’d tell me what to do.
I handed her the twenty and she said, “Stop worrying, darling,
you will find a good man soon.”

The first psycho-therapist said I should spend three hours a day
sitting in a dark closet with my eyes closed and my ears plugged.
I tried it once but couldn’t stop thinking
about how gay it was to be sitting in the closet.

The yogi told me to stretch everything but the truth, 
said focus on the out breath,
said everyone finds happiness
if they can care more about what they can give
than what they get.

The pharmacist said Klonopin, Lamictal, Lithium, Xanax.

The doctor said an antipsychotic might help me forget
what the trauma said.

The trauma said, “Don’t write this poem.
Nobody wants to hear you cry about the grief inside your bones.”

But my bones said, “Tyler Clementi dove into the Hudson River
convinced he was entirely alone.”

My bones said, “Write the poems.”

Reasons for jealousy

• The title.
• The images the words paint in your head.
• The format.
• Straightforwardness. Honesty. Genuineness.
• The concept of bones talking.
• The relatability factor (and yes I made up that term)  #breakthrough
• It talks about real issues.
• It's both depressing and inspiring.
• The line about how gay she felt sitting in a closet. Lol.
• It talks about dark issues without making you feel hopeless.
• The first paragraph. 
• The last line here (it's not really the end of the poem).