The nurse came to my room

Last name first she called me

She came with a scale in my room 

She was dragging it

Like a wet puppy or a child with a worn doll

It was bright and neon when she pressed the buttons

Which appeared to lift from the platform as if

Buttons could fly with the right amount of weight

Which was odd, I was used to nurses and people

Trying and attempting to weigh my sanity

On every type of scale that ever was made

It seemed maybe this was a different day

And a different decimal would give an exact

Number I could relate to 

I got up with a debatable grace and pound for pound

I was broken down to what brought me here

Then it happened I burst and busted out of shape and weight

And could not hide what I had become

I was no longer just at intake I was a full time patient 

And the circumstances were going 

To weigh me down to what I was

What I am and what I would never become

Uzomah Ugwu is a poet and writer. She is a political, social and cultural activist. Her focus is on human rights, mental health, animal rights and rights of LBGTQ persons. Her work has been featured in Prelude Magazine, Tuck Magazine and Wild Word and is forthcoming in the Angel City review and Voice of Eve and Scarlet Leaf Review. She is the Contributing/Poetry Editor for A Tired Heroine Magazine and Contributing Interviewer for Interlocutor.