Where Are the Institutions?

Where are mental institutions

To help those in dire need?

Within our current societal framework,

We can see where their absence can lead.

 

Closing the doors of facilities

Has posed a problem--one that defeats

The very attempt to keep psychotic,

Insane people from wandering the streets.

 

I'm not talking "insane asylums"

Or "snake pits" by any means,

Such as the ones we've seen in the movies

Filled with unforgettable scenes.

 

No, I'm talking facilities where

Patients receive necessary

Psychiatric help, which can

Hopefully be temporary.

 

At least those who are dangerous to

Themselves or others would have a place

To access humanitarian aid.

It's a problem we have to face.

 

Money? Is it all about money

That taxpayers refuse to spend

To build the institutions that

Would help and protect us in the end?

 

Shame on us as a country if

We thoughtlessly choose to overlook

What could be a proper solution

Merely because of our pocketbook.

 

-by Bob B (5-12-22)

Reviews

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Sad but so very true. This bit of social commentary really reflects our country as a whole and the indifference that permeates every aspect of it. Many simply don't care about anyone but themselves. They have bought into the vile propaganda spewed from particular media outlets. Drinking the proverbial kool-aid to coin a phrase. We need to be better than this.

[Bob B]

I know. For the past forty years the situation has kept growing worse. What people choose not to pay for in one way, they pay for in other ways, and not such nice ways, either.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

I totally agree with you on that. Here in Salinas I have been seeing more and more people with psychological issues out on the street corners screaming or talking to the sky. They need help and yet our community isn't doing anything to assist them at all. We are failing as a society.

[Bob B]

Definitely. I was verbally accosted by someone not in his right mind at a gas station and I feared that it would become physical. Scary.
By the way, you live in a lovely area. I love it up there.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

I had the exact same thing happen to me too Bob just last year. I was at a drive through and this guy jumped right in front of my car screaming. It was easy to tell he had psychological issues. And it's becoming more prevalent during this recession because homelessness is exploding. Yet no one is really up in arms about the rich getting richer and the wealth gap getting wider. Musk would rather pay billions to but Twitter that use that money to help the needy in society. We are literally a house of cards ready to fall because of our own indifference and greed.