Doorway to Hell

On a recent holiday to the Murray River area we visited an old Mental Asylum, which is now a very pleasant University Campus site. This Dungeon has been preserved.

DOORWAY TO HELL

Your body may be sick;

It is treated.

Your mind may be sick;

It is treated.

*

Today

There is no differentiation.

Pills, injections,

Therapies

Abound.

Above all there is sympathy.

*

But go back two hundred years

To a Mental Asylum

In New South Wales.

These steps,

This door

Would have struck terror to your very soul.

*

Maybe you awoke

Muddled,

Befuddled,

In a grey mist of uncertainty.

Who am I?

Where am I?

Maybe I am not here at all!

*

Maybe someone asked you something.

Maybe someone brushed up against you.

Maybe someone looked at you in a strange way.

Maybe you were made to eat unpleasant food.

*

For whatever reason

You cracked!

The whole world exploded

In a bewildering array

Of flashes,

Noises,

Sensations you could not describe.

*

To escape, you flailed your arms,

Screamed,

Kicked,

Yelled abuse.

The well-meaning attendants were powerless

Against your devilish strength!

*

Several of them pinioned your arms,

Tied you in a straight-jacket,

Frog-marched you to the steps,

To The Door.

And locked you in.

*

There, in the dark

You suffered alone.

Until reason prevailed.

*

Or until you died.

*

Be thankful.
*