A poem about the abuse of patients in mental hospitals.
Lab Rat*
Locked in a psych ward. A gainst . . . her will.
Forced daily to take . . . a little . . . white pill.
’Tween two rows of healthy . . . pearly-white . . . teeth.
With perfectly good . . . gums . . . underneath.
Then entered the ward . . . a nasty . . . distraction.
Dental students. To practice . . . extraction.
Before treating patients . . . on the outside.
Again my friend Anne . . . was told, “Open. Wide.”
*Based on a true story.
Copyright © 2009 by Liz Purcell.