Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

GEO-BESTIARY: 17 by JAMES HARRISON

Poet Analysis

First Line: I WAS SENT FAR FROM MY LAND OF BEARS
Last Line: AND LEARNED TO BOB LIKE AN APPLE ON THE RIVER'S SURFACE.
Subject(s): INSANITY; MADNESS; MENTAL ILLNESS;
I was sent far from my land of bears.
It wasn't an asylum but a resting place
to get well buttoned-up against my fugal state
wherein whirl is both the king and queen,
the brain-gods who stir a thousand revolutions
a second the contents of this graying cocotte.
Stop it please. Please stop it please.
There was one other poet from Yankeeland
who rubbed himself, including private parts,
with sandpaper. His doctor searched his room,
even his anus where he had secreted a tightly
bound roll. Across the wide yard and women's
quarters a lovely soprano sang TV jingles.
One day it was, "Fly the friendly skies of United,"
over and over. Her friend fed her peanut butter
and marshmallows to quell her voice, plus
a daily goblet of Thorazine. If you dive down deep
enough there are no words to bring you up. Not my
problem. If you fly too high there are no words
to help you land. I went back to my land of bears
and learned to bob like an apple on the river's surface.



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