Porcelain Boy: Poems of bipolar disorder

By Martin Hansen and Katie Suponch

I suffer from bipolar disorder. This collection is a description of my life in the psychiatric system. It is a description of sorrow and of the darkest corners in a mental hospital. A description of failure, but also of small victories appearing from the cold earth, where they are least expected.

I have painted pictures of a world viewed through glasses of a manic depressive. They are mood pictures from my life describing how my illness has shaped me to the person I am today.

I have a good life today and I have learned to live with my illness. I just have to take care of myself. Sometimes more than I think necessary.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Release date: Mar 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9788743081425

Martin Hansen

In Denmark it is easier to relate to a broken spine than to a broken mind. It is easier to call in sick with pain in the back than with pain in the soul. It is easier to explain that you are taking pills for blood pressure than for anxiety. There is, in other words, a lot of taboo relating to mental illness, and as long as this taboo is present, the author of this book chooses to be anonymous.

Book preview

symptoms

in the garden

green grass on unhardened feet

sun on bent shoulders

i am sitting in my parents’ garden

counting yellow flowers

the redcurrant bushes

multiply as they shall

the potato crop has failed

there is a window missing

in the greenhouse

i do not worry

about all those things

worry about the chaos

that surrounds

my head

porcelain boy

porcelain boy

i stand on the shelf

squinting

vigilant

in disguise

glass fish

i take punches

obey orders

from soldiers

in the yard

white stripes

on my cheeks

territory markers

pipe dreams

clay pigeon

my thoughts are flowing

dreams about wings

outstretched arms

porcelain boy

i stand on the shelf

gather dust

another brick

concert

with pink musicians

we sit in orchestra pits

beer in plastic cups

gloaming time

in the outskirts

police present

law enforcers

they open pockets

confiscate herbs

i hold