A Silent Night on the Psych Ward

It was a silent night on the psychiatric ward

where Sarah sat staring at the flickering TV

while snow fell outside the locked windows.

It was a holy night with Frank fluttering 

his magnificent wings through sleepless

nights and places unreachable by reason.

All is calm, especially in Mary's room 

where she lies motionless staring at the

ceiling, unable to move or speak her mind.

All is bright for Brenda who sees lights and

stars filling the creases and crevices of

sterile rooms in infinite dimensions.

'Round yon virgin stands Crystal who has 

been raped so many times she has lost

count, revisiting them nightly in her dreams.

Mother and child, a relationship lost to Rick 

whose Mom had abandoned him as a kid,

growing up in a treacherous foster care system.

 

Holy infant visit this place of damaged

and lost souls who have seen and experienced

what few can even begin to imagine or understand.

So tender and mild, Tina the underpaid psych tech

who is a ray of hope to these patients with her

concern, graciousness, and lack of judgement.

Sleep in heavenly peace you who have not been 

forced to see those in such a state or had to 

imagine what these tortured lives might be like.

Sleep in heavenly peace remembering all who

suffer this Christmas without consolation of 

family or friends, isolated from the wider world.

***