A Manic Meditation on the Bipolar Blues
/As a manic-depressive, my manias would have the curious ability to bend, twist and warp my perception of reality and self to usually pathological and detrimental extremes that have easily landed me in a mental hospital more than once when I was a youth. Today, older and much wiser, I am medication-compliant and therefore stable where I can function and spend my time reading; ennobling and edifying my mind; and composing poetry (for my own enjoyment and self-therapy).
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Wild with unbounded energy tonight,
I eschew my med's until I can hear
the frightful voices trumpet in my ear,
now haunting me into the dead of night
as I transform into a monstrous sight;
a version of myself that I most fear
when mania overtakes me—oh, dear
God! Why am I accursed with this dire plight!?
Life with bipolar disorder is tragic—
it's like a trial by fire, a hard test:
at times, this dark disease makes me frantic
with madness, rapture, and profound unrest
that's so vile that I go full-blown manic—
then I am overwhelmed and feel unblest!
By Ngoc Nguyen
From: United States