She woke to the sound of a quarrel,
surrounded by whitewashed narrow
walls. But they couldn’t whitewash sorrow
with a smattering of hollow words.
It was all a masquerade, this singing in Bedlam,
a one-woman parade, to escape the man
who had sprayed her life with his rotten sheen,
turned her into something obscene
to earn the price to stay alive in the scramble
of the gutter, where only rats are visible.
Kim M. Russell, 2017
Patient from London’s Bethlam Royal Hospital also known as ‘Bedlam’ taken in the 1800s by Henry Hering – image found on Pinterest
My response to Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Wordle #153
writing in north norfolk 
I recently watched a movie/documentary on mental institutions. It is just so tragic how we treat one another. Powerful and emotional writing
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For some women, it was the only escape from prostitution but I think many of them regretted it once they were there. They were used for some pretty gruesome experiments and a visit to Bedlam was entertainment for the better off.
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Really tight writing – I ended reading and thought about the indivisibility of rats – even though there be no such thing. G:)
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Thanks Graham!
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It’s wonderful how you weave such an odd assortment of words into such a beautiful poem !!! Kudos !!!
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Thank you for such kind words!
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Powerfully written, Kim! We visited a psychiatric hospital museum recently and were saddened to learn of horrific “treatments”…thankfully in the past.
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They went on right up into the sixties. Scary!
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For sure!
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Bedlam always fills me with a fear of madness and cruelty – how many people incarcerated through ignorance or poverty. Your poem chimes with words of understanding and fills my mind with chilling images.
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Thankfully, things have moved on and society is more understanding and tolerant.
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Aye, such a Horrific scene.
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My great grandmother was put into an asylum left over from Victorian times She had dementia and I was taken to visit her every Sunday when I was little. It left a lasing impression on me.
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