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Julian Dedman: The Cow Jumped

This poem and illustration give a glimpse into the angst of the mind tormented in the throes of an episode. Hopefully this will resonate for those who experience mental ill health and give insight to those who don't.

A fragmented mind

The Cow Jumped
Poem and illustration by Julian Dedman

There are no words to speak
Sailing to the drifting snows
Through the echoes
Of the crimson bleak
There is only silence to scream
To vibrations of the black chimes
Of that distant bell
That solicits the accursed
Hollow ghosts eating
With intention to defecate
The dregs of blessed hours
Shadows prance
With karmic delight,
Vermin witness behind
Victorian bricks
Red and worn
Kneeling before the door
Ever closed
In wine stained clothes
Bottle held so very dear
No longer beseeching understanding
From the masculine dead
Scratching the Self-imposed
Filth and shame
Cows jump over the indifferent moons
As they lose themselves
To awe.

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