For a friend who rescued animals. And people. A hospice poem

Heaven is in Your Pocket

In the heaven that does not exist
they keep you waiting
while they look something up

and no pets,
they’ll have to wait outside
please

The heaven that does exist
is a rat in your pocket:
He’s cute. And smart.
His name is Dr Gonzo

In the heaven that does not exist:
a bunch of saintly types and angels

In the heaven that does exist
-rabbits everywhere!
(lop-eared, cottontail, hare…)

In the heaven that does exist
you feed a baby raven with an eye dropper.

The heaven that does exist
is your sunny back fence
where a cat can stand guard against other cats
or sleep, depending.

The heaven that does exist:
…A clean cage
clear water in my water bottle
and the door slamming because you’re home.

The heaven that doesn’t exist is who knows where

But oh: the heaven that does exist
is in your pocket.

jk
5/15/2018

Clown School

One of the kids in the adolescent care unit presented severe psychotic symptoms: hallucinations and voices and perseveration. He sat on the little bed in his room and practiced juggling little crumpled pieces of paper from the art supplies. Juggled and failed but was persistent.

He was stuck there until a longer term care situation could be found.

One day I brought in a set of practice juggling objects made of stuffed cloth I found at a toy store.

So the mean strict clinician, the mental health professional, said “You can’t have those here. Anything that can be thrown is a potential hazard.”

I was downcast. Disappointed.

Then the mental health clinician said, “Hey, look!”

She was juggling with both hands and then one hand the practice juggling balls.

“We might reconsider.”

“Clown school,” she explained.

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( incidentally, the charge nurse explained that the boy’s symptoms could be treated- she was confident that they were an adverse reaction.)

Not sure if this has anything to do with quarantine. Have a nice day?