A Thousand Broken Teardrops
know my instability
I know it well
I know its demons
Who know my shiver
And sanity’s stabilisers?
They lie at the bottom of a river
I know my instability
It speaks to me in half dreams
Shapes and memories of the past
The feeling of terror when I awake
Never fading too fast
I know my mental health
Can be afraid
A thousand broken teardrops
From which it was made
But I am not scared
Of saying this is how it is
It is not pretty
Or some appealing gift
It does not seek respect
Or try to be liked
But without those stabilisers
It can be hard to ride the bike
James Garratt – January 2008
The Boy Behind The Glasses. Poetry and Writing 