The Land of Drought

a poem about bipolar disorder

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After my second bipolar collapse, 
I traveled to the high desert
for residential treatment. One night, stoned
on sedatives, I watched three deer
walk so close that I could've touched them.

Ten years earlier, after my first
bipolar collapse, I traveled to the low
desert for residential treatment. One day,  
stoned on sedatives, I watched a tarantula 
chase a lizard up a drain pipe.

The desert might be austere
but the bipolar mind is verdant
with beauty and fear. I think
the tarantula and lizard were real
but I'm almost positive
that I imagined the deer.