Peculiar

by N J Thornton   Jan 23, 2008


It was before I was diagnosed
'peculiar' that he said to me
'always be yourself'

I'd been amazed by his lack of
precaution that I almost
believed him.

I almost let go of my tongue;
I almost opened my eyes,
so nearly in fact that I noticed him
rubbing his hands together
and hovering by a button that said

'insanity.'

But, it was too late.

I realised he'd already sounded
the alarm when they brutally
stitched my mouth and
gouged out my eyeballs.

Then, I felt the ink forced against
my head.

'Peculiar.'

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Latest Comments

  • 16 years ago

    by ghosts in bloom

    Sibyllene said exactly my thoughts in that first paragraph. Your work is so unique and refreshing. And the word "peculiar" is so enticing as compared to the now somewhat watered down vocabulary people have. Anyhow. I really enjoyed the story depicted in this piece -- such a unique point of view. A wonderful write in my opinion!

  • 16 years ago

    by sibyllene

    I am very confused as to why you don't have more comments on your poems. They're so much more fresh and original than most of the stuff on this site. As an example of that... you use the word "peculiar." It's a somewhat quaint and outdated word that could easily be replaced with something more blunt, like "crazy," "weird," etc. But I like "peculiar" much more. It has a sense of the exotic - like something collected and inspected but never quite understood.

    The whole course of this poem was interesting to me. I liked that you were "so near" to opening your eyes that you could see him - that was a nice, strange touch. One question: did you mean to say "I'd been (so) amazed by...?" Seems like you'd need a "so," so that you can have a "that."

    Well, that was an awkward sentence. Anyway, I quite liked this. Off to read some more!

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