Arnon Grunberg

Boat

Six

Day six in the mental institution.
In a small city in Belgium some psychiatric patients gave a poetry reading. Some of the patients were excellent performers. A bit mad perhaps, but isn't the true performer supposed to be mad? A psychologist read poetry as well. First I assumed that he was reading poems from patients who were unable or unwilling to perform, but it turned out that he was reading his own poetry. Some of the poems were fairly erotic.
A matter of solidarity I would say: we are all in the same boat.
One more remark: Both patients, psychiatric nurses and many psychiatrists and psychologists smoke as if there’s no tomorrow, as if we are all from Ukraine.

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