I am in the quiet room,
But it is far from that.
I have been screaming my head off
For at least 20mins,
But I am not sure quite how long
As there is no clock in this room.
Time stood still.
My life stood still.
Anything could be happening outside,
A nuclear war perhaps.
But I am cocooned in this space
Nothing can touch me.
I stop screaming
As there’s is no point.
No-one can hear me
They are all going about their duties
On the ward.
I look around and try to make out
The dimensions of the room.
I lie down flat, it is double my height,
Perhaps a bit more.
It is a perfect square
That annoys me for some reason,
But I’m not sure why
I strain to listen for any noise
But there is nothing.
I think this must be what it is like
To be dead
Total nothingness
I wondered if I tried hard enough,
I could get my soul to float out of my body.
Out of this room and into the atmosphere
Never to be seen again.
I liked the idea of floating.
I would be like an angel
With the power to conquer the devil
Who has been tormenting me for so long.
But my thoughts come to an abrupt end
When I hear the door being unlocked.
“Feeling more calm now?” the nurse asks.
We have called for the psychiatrist
To come and speak to you.
I knew what that meant,
Another increase in my medication
A chemical restraint
So I am less trouble for the staff
An easy life for them
An easier life for me they think.
But they haven’t got a clue
Of the turmoil that is still inside my head.
I think to myself
Welcome back to the real world.
I have never been put in the quiet room, but I tried to imagine what it would be like to be in there. How someone would pass their time in there.