Among the most extraordinary caregivers are mental health professionals who deal with those among us afflicted with schizophrenia. In some ways, it is hard for the rest of us to appreciate the searing pain of hearing disembodied voices - especially when those voices appear as demons that threaten. Caregiver meditations call us to share the pain of others by seeking to understand, and by being in touch with our own voices...
Balcony Woman
The schizophrenic perched in the church
balcony shouts, “There are voices coming
from my vagina!” The fellow next to me
says, “Maybe we should investigate” &
laughs hard while the
minister continues as if the woman is
sitting silent like the rest of us; as if we heard
no voices screaming through us the way
wind-driven ice clatters the bones
of a ruined house.
Some part of the wind
wails to me to rush to the balcony to comfort
the woman, or have her comfort me
so that I won’t cry out my own voices in front
of everyone.
