Laws of Madness
by Michael Doyle

Systematic failures that lead to sadness
Across the nations are laws of madness
That constantly flourish and prevail
All of these bringing us a living Hell

It's as if we've misconceived the operation
That leads us to those final conversations
Vague, equivocal, and something reprehensible
The thoughts unneeded seethe incomprehensible

That is until they override all common decency
Leaving death's footprint oppressive in its legacy
Compulsion leads to an abject statement dreadfully wrong
These are the ill-considered meaning that do not belong

Systematic failures that lead to sadness
Across the nations are laws of madness
That constantly flourish and prevail
All of these bringing us a living Hell

A silhouetted figure slinks across the quad
Who would suspect or even find this odd
The shrouded figure hints a whisper of danger
Who would suspect the clench fisted stranger

It's as if we've misconceived the operation
That leads us to those final conversations
Vague, equivocal, and something reprehensible
The thoughts unneeded seethe incomprehensible

Having killed the windup doll of flesh and blood
His soul had slipped into darkness and the mud
Urgently concerned for the death he had brought
A woman's death was a mystery with answers sought

The most famous schizophrenic in perverse designation
His head hung low knowing his wrongs in full resignation
His mind was now his enemy and no longer his friend
This was not something he could smile and pretend

It's as if we've misconceived the operation
That leads us to those final conversations
Vague, equivocal, and something reprehensible
The thoughts unneeded seethe incomprehensible

A twisted mind turned his fiancée into inhuman imposter
Who had deceived all as she had simply assumed posture
He sought asylum the only way he knew in taking her death
Avoiding the torture she brought with her last breath

Seeking respite and asylum from the strain of delusion
That could not be provided by the poison minded confusion
Provided from something the aliens described as medication
There was nothing in his mindset resembling premeditation

It's as if we've misconceived the operation
That leads us to those final conversations
Vague, equivocal, and something reprehensible
The thoughts unneeded seethe incomprehensible

Policy, law, and accountability should have been there
But in the never neverland of society, it's not clear
That there's an abysmal morass causing slips into cracks
And the homicidal moments that bring unthinkable acts

Untold suffering has led to a culture of uncertainty
And this uncertainty has it's anguished and bloody legacy
Coming of age in the wreckage of deinstitutionalization 
An end came to when moral care was the substance of civilization

It's as if we've misconceived the operation
That leads us to those final conversations
Vague, equivocal, and something reprehensible
The thoughts unneeded seethe incomprehensible

Funding never came for the one stop process of ice pick lobotomy
And with no outpatient clinics to bring society's harmony
What are needed are the small steps that lead to repair
Innocence and hope deserve the small chances of such care

Ten year old boys remember each other as who was friend
But once around the cuckoo's nest is not for the pretend
Dribbled basketballs rap on the road before a knocked on door
Decided in the plans society has to always reach for more

It's as if we've misconceived the operation
That leads us to those final conversations
Vague, equivocal, and something reprehensible
The thoughts unneeded seethe incomprehensible 

(c) April 11, 2023  Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved