The Forgotten Ones

[Native Arizona]

The Forgotten Ones

As a new decade passes and time proceeds on
Memories of those mistreated still arise
Living away from home forever, it’s their fault
Enduring shock treatments and multiple tests
What is it that made them so mad inside
Doctors wonder as they probe every orifice
Testing “new” medicines not fit for the rats
Locking them away while families hide in shame
Denying knowledge of those that they have borne
While secretly slipping checks to the staff for care
To pay for the silence of the forgotten ones

A new decade passes again and I am left to ponder
The forgotten ones are much closer than I imagined
Discovering a loved one long ago locked away from life
She will never go home and no one seems to care
I want to shout out that I share her troubled mind
I want her to know that she is no longer alone in fate
Restraining against the wishes of secrets long kept
I am silenced by the brief uttering of “institutionalized”
Knowing her will never be an option; she’ll die there
Her name is as nonexistent as she has always been
They were paid to silence the forgotten ones

Move forward many more years with technology abound
There is still loss over the forgotten one far away
Knowing that I will always share a small part of her
In a diagnosis though unwanted makes things clear
Though not locked away like she has been for years
I’m still afraid to speak of the madness I shelter away
For the stigma today isn’t much better than in the past
People still fear the things of which they do not know
The preference of ignorance fuels their mob mentality
For protection, I wear the masks society demands
And slowly I also become a forgotten one

This is dedicated to my grandpa's sister who has been in an institution for most of her life. I am still trying to find out her name.

[Zooie]

So sad...suffering silence becomes our only defense. I, too, had a distant relative who spent her life "institutionalized". Relatives talked in hushed tones, if at all, about her. I was very young, but I learned about "the stigma" early on. Good poem NA.

[zaneiac]

"I wear the masks society demands"

Well put! It seems that we as bipolars have to tuck away who we have become over the years. It's like we have to learn to become our own censor in hopes that we can someday blend in with the so called normals. But then again - could you imagine a world filled with nothing but bipolars, kinda scary. It still sucks that we are the ones who have to try to adapt. Oh well, makes us stronger.

[Native Arizona]

Thank you for your comments. This poem really meant a lot to me. I finally discovered her name...Beverly. I hope by dedicating my poem to her, publishing it, and most of all, knowing her name will resurruct her from being one of the "forgotten ones."