Bedlam *
Joseph Merrick 1862 – 1890. was never put on display at Bedlam, but I take his case as the basis for this piece entitled “Bedlam.”
Ravening through the night,
Screams tearing bloody tracks
Deep into minds and darkened dreams
Carving lines across face and breast
That mark the flesh of the inflicted
Leaving deep runnels of red.
A Few modest words in my own behalf.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Madames et Monsieurs
Welcome to Bedlam, House of the Mad
Home to nightmares that never end
And horrors everlasting to haunt your dreams.
Here we are proud to present to you
A unique exhibition of the unusual, the bizarre,
The odd and the curious, society’s castoffs,
Nature’s mistakes
The malformed in body and mind.
For your edification and your elucidation
I am pleased to draw back the curtain
And present to you
The Inmates of Bedlam.”
A Few modest words in my own behalf.
A perverse social experiment run amok
In an age of twisted sensibilities
And hardened hearts.
For a coin you may enter this gallery of horror
Drawn from the world’s four corners
And come face-to-face with yourself
As you might have been
Had God rolled the dice one more time.
A Few modest words in my own behalf.
What shall we make of Bedlam?
We possess no want of cruelty and indifference
That warrant our disapproval,
So in the spirit of “Judge not lest ye be judged”
Hold up the Halloween mask of Bedlam
And stare into the mirror.
Look deep and with perfect honesty
And so once again pose the question,
“ What shall we make of Bedlam?”