Guest Post: Don Matthews Trilogy #3

Today I bring you another three poems from the inimitable Don Matthews of The Flippant, Comic, and Serious. Don hails from Down Under where he writes poetry which is often comedic with serious undertones. His bodyguard Skip (pictured above) takes care of security.

I’m Sorry

(I am a prolific writer)
I’m sorry for exploding
Exploding on the scene
Firing posts like bullets
Shattering your screen
You’re not at all….

Don Matthews

May 2020

Bipolar Disorder

(Dealing with mental health issues. Step 1. Talk about it)

Why am I so different?
Different from the rest?
Not your ‘normal’ poet?
(Born with brain bit messed)

Not the quite right balance
Of chemicals, you see
Forced on me by parent’s genes
Unknown to them, (and me)

Mania is my demon
Now kept in check with drugs
Family helped pull me out
From the hole I’d dug

I share the same condition
As Hemingway I’m told
Now kept in check with medications
Worth their weight in gold

Other sharers of my condition – Stephen Fry, Virginia Woolf, Vincent Van Gough, Spike Milligan, Robin Williams, Mariah Carey, Carrie Fisher, Mel Gibson, Brian Wilson, Kurt Cobain, Jimmi Hendrix, Vivien Leigh, Frank Sinatra, Sinead O’Connor, Winston Churchill

It’s left me with a two-edge sword
One’s razor sharp can kill
The other’s razor sharp as well
It’s used to power my quill

I still can hear my demon
Rumbling ‘way with rage
Important that I take my drugs
To keep him locked in cage

So while I may be different
Even a little flawed
I’m really happy with my lot
Happy being ‘odd’

Don Matthews

May 2020

Ho Hum

I am an offbeat poet
I rhyme to my own drum
Thalia, my Muse of Mirth
Helps me script, ho hum

I’m also in a blues band
Playing on the drums
Too noisy for my Thalia
She stays at home, ho hum

Don Matthews

May 2020

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