Unfit for Trial

Wow. Just a tad bit depressing. Poignant for me, too, thinking of my former clients who are still a victim of the system which is the subject of this poem.

 

Written with Coaxing from the Weekly Get Your Poem On Prompt which asked us to write poems based on headlines. This particular headline tugged my pen... with prompting courtesy of...

 

Unfit for Trial

 

So they say

The Psychologists

With their five years

Under their belts and

Their ill-fitting suits

“Unfit” they declare

And send him off,

The eye devouring

Father who took an

Axe to his own legs

“Unfit” and they

Expect a couple

Years at State

Hospital will make

Him fit for much

Of anything?

I am unfit for

Major League Baseball

A couple years in

Palm Springs

won’t

Ever make me fit

I am unfit for

Donald Trump’s

The Apprentice (nor

Would I want to be)

But I wonder what

Would happen with

Two years of coaching

From The Donald would

I be declared Fit or

Fit to be tied

Unfit they say.

The man sits.

Wheelchair bound.

Hands gagged.

Mind numbed

They say by

Medications.

I remember when

I worked with

Gentlemen and ladies

Declared “Unfit”

And their attorneys

Would look to me

Their eyes begging

Help, I am not fit

To serve this

Gentleman or that

Lady yet you? Are?

I would tell them

And the Judges what to

Do for I actually knew

This law better

than they could or

would

The Judge declaring

The Eye Chewing

Axe Grinding Dad Unfit

Is one with whom I stood,

In chambers, and made

A hearty – not

Eye gagging

Suggestion

Which worked

My client got

Exactly what I asked for

Him to get as he was

Unfit, too

As I am unfit

To deal with

Bureaucracy

Or major league

Baseball or

Donald Trump

Together, Unfit

Separately, Unfit

The System is Unfit

For this Trial

Comments

[Paul Oakley]

Very thought-provoking look at what it means to be fit or unfit.

The man sits.
Wheelchair bound.
Hands gagged.
Mind numbed

Very compelling image.

[Julie Jordan Scott]

Thank you.

I could go on and on about all the mentally ill folks sitting in prison... but I won't... today.

[Damian]

I liked it. A cheeky look at a serious topic.

[Barbara]

Good. It makes me want to argue with someone.

[David Moolten]

I like the cascade of images and different ways you "play" with the words fit and unfit

[Cynthia Short]

This was VERY good. Quite a sad and no=win situation to write about and yet make it understandable.

[gautami tripathy]

A poem to made one sit up and think!

blowing over that mug of coffee

[Derrick]

Hello Julie,

A very vexed question. I like:
"I would tell them
And the Judges what to
Do for I actually knew
This law better
than they could or
would"

[Julie Jordan Scott]

Damian - so glad you read and yes, very much cheeky. The situation makes me so sad if I wasn't cheeky, I would spend far too much crying or sitting in a corner, holding my head.

Barbara - excellent. Go yell! Advocate! Activate! There are so many who are so unfit in ways that you are fit. (Just had an image of us all matched up in our areas of unfitness with people whose strongest passion was partnering with us to see mutual compassion and empowerment.)

Cynthia - grateful you read my poem today.

Derrick - most lawyers and judges don't have much time to study laws pertaining to mental health and are grateful when the folks who serve the mentally ill take the time to show up in court and advocate for their best interest. Each time I went to court with one of my clients, I was seen as an active, knowledgeable participant and my clients came out better off. I miss them, my clients. I obviously do not miss the system.

Thank you, everyone, for reading and commenting... and kudos to my friend, Steve Mayer, for writing the article that inspired the poem. I am not sure if he is also responsible for the block lettered "Unfit for Trial" but those three words just slapped me across my face. I had to write them.

[Mark]

Social commentary and poetry seem to go hand in hand and this is one that is done well on both counts.

Kudos to you.

[Francis Scudellari]

I was really carried along by the emotion in this... and it conveys the absurdities of the situation very sharply. I'm very glad you shared it.

[DJ Vorreyer]

I like the way you add pop culture into a social poem with the baseball and Donald Trump references.

[Nicole Nicholson]

Whoa! This blew my ears off. I would love to hear this read out loud. Good write!

-Nicole

[Nathan]

Your passion for this subject shines through.

[Therese Broderick]

Repetition is a fundamental device of poetry. This poem uses "unfit" or variations thereof at least 19 times. After reading the word so many times, I hear and understand it in new ways.

[wayne]

I really love this poem...