Natalie Altman

I'D RATHER BE BI-COASTAL

Someday, being Bipolar will mean jetting between the North Pole and the south pole and not moods.

Someday, being Bipolar will not make job offers disappear, expressions change and dates un-kept.

Someday, being Bipolar won't make someone hesitate at the line that asks, "Mental Illness?"

Someday, being Bipolar won't mean getting mowed down in a hail of police bullets, when brandishing a sock.

Someday, Bipolar I and Bipolar II will just be
Condominiums.

Someday, maybe. But for right now, I'd rather be Bi-Coastal

Natalie Altman is 68 with many careers under her belt including realtor, commodity broker, cosmetic company entrepreneur, artist and jewelry designer. Typical of many bipolars, she's had bursts of success at some of these, and a lot of "burn-out." She wrote the above poem after a friend who was published on Wordgathering sent her the link. Long symptomatic but only recently diagnosed, she finds it difficult to say, "I am bipolar." Hence, the poem.