Willow Court, 2004

 

In one of the upper rooms,

crusted with dust and droppings,

a chair on stilts.

Above it, remains of a frame.

 

A stage prop? 

 

A canopied throne for King Lear 

before he went mad and wandered 

into wilderness?

 

Or a treatment chair?

 

Not the whirling ones on wires

where patients were spun

until calmed.

 

Perhaps an Oldmissbunny 

with her cruel contraption of clamps

for immobilising limbs –

but there’s no sign of those.

 

Rather, a Bergonic precursor

for electric shocks – 

yet the structure wouldn’t cope 

with seizures.

 

What about a Tranquilising Chair

with soft leather straps (since removed) 

the patients hidden from view 

behind hessian – notice the remnant.