Poem: Ad nauseum and illumination

carry me from this crazed man
that is my reaction
don't leave me here in this swamp of sick
his paranoia infects me though I recognize its irrationality
in me not paranoia but sad acceptance of societal ill effects
on this creature warped and twisted into stale pretzel

leans on wall, expects reward for words repeated again and again
ad nauseum,
like iterations earn illumination
like nod of head means full agreement
like not being yelled at means full acceptance

but he thinks, feels, deserves better,
his hunched form reflects not his own failings,
but his parents' pounding pummeling problems
his acquaintances lack of love
his friends' inability to lift him up

So I listen, respond and try to turn him
from the twisty dark road he is rolling
the dim depths of his inner ills
and give some slight sup
to his hunger for personal placation
to his perception of injustice based in self-deprecation
fertilized by mother and father failings
to find the worth of his extraordinary mind

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