His genetics predisposed him to mental illness,
Not his fault, nothing he could do to change his fate.
He often wondered why me? Why me?
Compared to him, others led wonderful lives,
He struggled with craziness in his twenties,
And refused to dull his mind with crazy pills.
He wrote beautiful and memorable poems.
At least despite the curse, he had some talent.
On a downcast day when his life lost meaning,
He shuffled into an abandoned farm building
With an armful of rope in his shaking hands.
He had decided to hang himself to death.
Before he secured the rope around his neck,
A starving, feral cat approached him meowing.
He scooped her up in his arms and petted her,
Took her home and fed her some nutritious food.
He credited her with saving his screwed up life,
That he made some life-saving changes in.
He followed his doctor’s well-intentioned advice
About taking medications that stabilized him.
After which he led a wonderful, productive life,
Writing and teaching poetry in a university,
And he never considered suicide again,
And he got married to a woman who loved his cat.
Bob Boyd
