Schizophrenia. Solitude.

Robert Ronnow
The Imaginary i

Schizophrenia. Solitude.

Unknowable network of cells and microbes,
cytoplasm, space between electrons,
a consciousness obsessed with joy and awe.
Problems to solve, paranoia, cancer,
mechanical failure. Ours are eclipsed
by Captain Picard’s. Niebuhr’s comment
that American culture is enmeshed
in the illusions, hocus pocus and mush
of the Age of Reason is just plain wrong.
We’re nuts, bonkers, mad, zany, insane,
wacko, loony, batty, kooky, daffy,
dotty, balmy, brain-dead, one beer short
of a six pack, and schizophrenic.

Negativity unimpeded by
comity. Crows don’t annoy but dogs do.
The scientific method is the master
algorithm, others pray our current woes
are only temporary. Schizophrenia
is a lifelong brain disorder meaning
there is no cure but some sapiens achieve
symptom reduction or full recovery
(functional remission) through medication,
therapy and support if intervention
precedes incessant wishing and cursing.
So now what. Leave us to our fate. Wait
for the el, snow on the Sonoran, the train
in the rain, change in me and the weather.
Give up desiring to be touched, to be known,
stay in the mountains unknown, solitude.
Sit sitting still, a buddha or sitting bull.