Poems from Hotel Middlemore

Poems from Hotel Middlemore, Michael Morrissey's 23rd book and his 12th book of poetry, casts a wry but compassionate eye on life in a New Zealand psychiatric ward:
'I'm in the best hotel in the world / grandest view / hot and cold running / but it's a psychiatric ward / everyone mad except me / and I too am mad / as a butchered snake / ramraided by delusion / I have bipolar disorder which comes / and goes / of its own free will.'

In Hotel Middlemore, 'the smallest country on earth / tinier than the Vatican / yet more secure', Michael Morrissey, 'God's blue astronaut / lonely butunafraid', takes us on a journey from a psychiatric ward to 'beyond infinity / and back again'.

Featured in the 14 June 2018 New Zealand newsletter.
To receive this newsletter regularly please email us with your name and contact details.