In Memory of Crysta Casey, 1952-2008

The Sane and the Insane

My thoughts are more exciting
when I'm not on meds.
On medication, I think
of vacuuming the carpet
to get rid of any bugs
Bonnie may have left
when she curled into a fetal position
on the rug last Sunday.

At three a.m. she lit
three cigarettes at the same time,
put them in the ashtray
and watched them burn.
Said, "Kaw, globble,"
so I called 911. The medics were nice
when they took her to the hospital.
She put on her boots
without socks, did not lace them--
I had to give a poetry reading
the next night. "Don't rock,"
I reminded myself, "that's a dead giveaway."
I think it was Robert Graves who wrote
in The White Godess, "The difference
between the insane and poets
is that poets write it down."

Crysta Casey
Pontoon 10

Crysta, we will miss you.