Monday 17 January 2011

McHappiness

My poem 'McHappiness' was recently commended in a poetry competition organised by Leaf Books. It is due to appear in an anthology with the winning poem, the two-runners-up & the other commended poems.

I have just been informed by Leaf Books that the title of the book will be Balancing Act and Other Poems. As soon as I have a publishing date I will let you know - just in case there is a teeny-weeny chance you might want to buy the book. I have had a sneak preview of all the other poems & feel privileged to be in such esteemed company. There are some truly wonderful poems in this collection.



McHappiness

Daily administration of the prescribed oxalate
has caused the electric juice of happiness

to pool within your synaptic clefts. Re-uptake
is now minimal and your recipient cells

have been flash-flooded with 5-HT. Soon –
one more week perhaps – your darkness

will lift. The words treacle, futile and pit will slip
from your consciousness. Ligatures will manifest

as rafters and black dogs will slumber
in their kennels. Your mornings will be cock-crowed

in soft summer yellows, your nights sparkled
with argentine. Winters will be gladdened

with lux, tragedies will become comedies,
slums palaces as you rise up from the valley

of Baca. Fully loaded, you will be lifted by dancers
and flung heavenwards. You will shrug off traumas,

laugh at funerals and, when you no longer need me,
I shall wait for you, sealed inside my silver clip.

Should you get messed by the world again
simply press my bubble and push me out.

Feel the slick of my curves, the drag of my glaze
in the tube of your tongue (remember –

nausea and diarrhoea are common at first
but beware of rashes and fits).

Soothing as a sugar tit, sweet as Hoffman’s
drops, I am your saviour: salvation-to-go,

your Elysian torpedo fashioned to rattle
selectively in the pillbox of your soul.


17 comments:

  1. "In the pillbox of the soul", that's a scary and sad concept, for some reason.

    Also liked this line: "The words treacle, futile and pit will slip
    from your consciousness. Ligatures will manifest

    as rafters"

    Congratulations on being selected for the anthology. :)

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  2. Beautiful, darkly disturbing, the imagery will remain with me a long time Peter, thank you.
    Steve Cottrell

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  3. Congrats. I can fully relate, in no small part due to the 5-HT (unfortunately). If I may suggest, please consider joining one of our free poetry contests at www.poethood.com.

    Best,
    Mikko

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  4. Been there, done that place and returned more than once. You capture the pathos, fear, longing so beautifully and yet so starky, darkly, and truthfully. 'Treacle', 'pit', 'ligatures' fearfully accurate.
    Long may the Black Dog slumber.

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  5. Hi Berit - thank you for your comments & congratulations. Very much appreciated.

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  6. Hi Steve - thank you too for your positive comments. I'm pleased you connected up with my poem.

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  7. Hi Mikko - Thank you for your comments. Given that you have 'been there' I value them greatly. I shall check out the link that you've included.

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  8. Hi fenlander2. Thank you so much for your comments. It feels like you are validating my words & saying, 'Yes! That is how it was.' Long may that Black Dog slumber indeed.

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  9. Though I couldn't understand each line I wonder what's more real: Consciousness with our without it ... I'd prefer without. Especially liked "salvation-to-go".

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  10. A very clever poem beautifully written by a scientist and an artist and symbolic of today's culture--its ecstasy and its agony. Already the title starting with Mc eludes to an image of drive-through fast food. The quick fix--the pill. It is extraordinary human progress and also a tragedy. A very fine poem indeed.

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  11. Hi starwatcher521 - thank you so much for your comments. Many people have told me that the material world seems so much brighter without the medication ... yet people have also disclosed how antidepressants have provided a lifeline for them & helped to haul them out of their darkness. I guess the important issue for me is that they are prescribed as an adjunct to a warm & supportive therapeutic relationship. Unfortunately, the reality is that most GPs reach for their prescription pad during the initial consultation & prescribe them as a matter of course. Furthermore, some GPs are oblivious to the fact that this kind of medication can cause some nasty side-effects & withdrawal symptoms. My poem addresses the issue of such indiscriminate prescribing where medication, sadly, is dished out without a thorough assessment & the necessary ongoing therapy/support.

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  12. Hi Quirina - thank you so much for your lovely, positive comments on my poem. I think you have it summed up beautifully. 'Quick fixes' have become part of our society & people have come to expect them, as opposed to being encouraged to walk through what Keats described as 'The Vale of Soulmaking'. The big fault, for me, lies with the pharmaceutical companies, who medicalize emotions & push their drugs as 'cures'. Doctors tend to conceptualize emotional problems as 'illnesses' & are quick to grasp a medical solution. Oh dear! I feel an essay coming on - best stop here. What I will say again, though, is that feedback from the many people I saw over a period of 27 years strongly suggests that the most valuable 'treatment' during periods of clinical depression was some form of supportive talking therapy. Sadly, therein lies another problem: waiting lists! A GP can prescribe a tablet immediately - whereas some people have to wait 6 months or longer before they are able to see a therapist.

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  13. Hi Peter,

    I completely agree with you. The medication should not be a substitute for a healing relationship, but should only facilitate it. I recently started reading a book called "Healing the Soul in the Age of the Brain. Becoming Conscious in an Unconscious World" by Elio Frattaroli. What the author begins to describe swept me off my feet.

    I am really enjoying your blog.

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  14. Thanks again Quirina - book sounds really good. I shall check it out.

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  15. My god, I love this poem. An absolute melting of rigid, reifying language into that sublimb plunge...

    "The words treacle, futile and pit will slip
    from your consciousness. Ligatures will manifest

    as rafters and black dogs will slumber
    in their kennels. Your mornings will be cock-crowed

    in soft summer yellows, your nights sparkled
    with argentine. Winters will be gladdened

    with lux, tragedies will become comedies,
    slums palaces as you rise up from the valley

    of Baca."

    I've on antidepressents/antipsychotics and this is what I mean about poetry being truth. You couldn't have articulated it better: great stuff.

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  16. Thank you for such positive comments. Sorry it's taken so long for me to respond. So pleased you connected with my poem, I guess you are better qualified than many to respond to 'McHappiness' if you are prescribed such drugs/keyed into the psychiatric system. I really appreciate you having taken the time to visit my blog & will post this link you you on twitter so you're aware how much I value your comments.

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  17. How in the world did I ever miss this? You certainly do well describe this McWorld we're living in. Congrads on the win. Your language mastery is enviable, as usual.xx

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