Linda Fuchs

psych ward

metallic click locks
reinforced doors
July disappears
into my brain haze

no comprehension of
day’s passage; survival
by meds and
lunch cart’s arrival

visiting hours
bring facade of normality
with talk of outside
weddings and weather

friends gone too soon
I am left with endless time
elusive sleep does not ease
threats of demons unkind

* * *

driftwood

years fighting for mental
health I feel as jagged
as a battle scarred general

rough hewn heart
estranged from reality
not knowing from one day

to the next what guardian
angel will arise
take me by surprise

engulf me in its guise
of slippery semi sanity
fooling me into

thinking all is well
my life is as dry
as washed-out driftwood

lying on the sand
waiting to be plucked
for reveler’s bonfire

Linda Fuchs was born in Ohio, one of twelve children. She graduated from Kent State University with a degree in Computer Science in 1995. She states that she is one of the lucky ones that are ambidextrous and she believes having a brain that works like that helps her to be both technical and creative. Her first book The Midnight Ramblings of an Insane Woman was published in 2006 by Publish America. She has also had numerous poems published in various journals. In addition to writing, she enjoys stained glass and basketry.