Trapped

Inspiration is all around the artist; he only needs to be observant in order to tap into that inspiration. Last night I was watching Criminal Minds, the only show I can watch from sun up to sun down. I love me some Derek Morgan and Jason Gideon, but don’t get me started…Anyway, this particular episode was about a combat veteran who had a snap with reality and imagined himself back in war. He became a serial killer because of that break in reality. He was trapped in him memories. I felt terrible for what he was experiencing (yes, I know he’s a fictional character, but I also know that a lot of fiction has its roots in reality). It’s frustrating to watch a country take individuals and place them in such traumatic situations, but then bring them back home and not do enough to help them assimilate back into their lives.

From that episode came the following poem; here’s the poem for Day 23 of National Poetry Month:

Trapped

I���m trapped in my mind and

I have no way to get out. No

one can see the prison bars

but me as I try to crawl through

them to find my sanity. All you

can see is me trying to break free

from the memories of a war

that���s long forgotten to those

who never had to fight it. Yet

everywhere I turn, I see the face

of the enemy. The clerk in the

grocery store has been trying to

kill me since the day I was born.

To make me a stillborn. And the

man who delivers my mail is

prisoner guard of my jail. I scream

at him when I see him, tell him

to let me be free, but he just

ignores me. Why won���t you

send someone to save me?

You allowed the enemy to

capture me, held me in captivity,

while peeling the flesh away. You

think you see my flesh roaming

the streets; no one knows this

isn���t me. My body was left on a

battlefield. My soul was blasted

away. And the kid behind the weapon

was no more than 16, but because

of the death look I saw in his eyes,

I haven���t been able to sleep. I close

my eyes and try to escape the

nightmare I see unfolding in front

of my eyes. Damn you! Don���t you

hear me screaming? Why won���t you

help me? Didn���t I help you

when you needed me?

Peace & Love,

Rosalind