It is my belief that we can learn best from those who have gone or are going through the challenges. Words in books are sterile when compared with real-life experiences. Literature can teach us things that get us into the soul and heart of the issue. Here is a story of an old man and his challenges, ones that old men go through every day with no one noticing. Melvin and I lived in the same transitional housing building and he was a character. He built his world as he could tolerate it; nothing else worked for him. With the closure of so many mental institutions and cutting of funding for the mentally ill, they must now try to survive in the 'real' world. The way they do this is by created a world of their own.

MELVIN’S HAT

Melvin’s hat was blue,
it smelled of tobacco
and rode his head close
to his ears.
Kept the evil thoughts in -
kept the evil thoughts out.
Even on a hell-hot July day...
on a Tri Met bus going uptown,
Melvin wore his hat.
He rolled his own cigarettes,
leaky confections that shed
onto his black skin like dandruff.
He struck matches
on the butt of his jeans.
Melvin had two teeth;
yellow commas on each side
of a leathery smile.
Two boys got on the #20.
They stole Melvin’s hat
and set it on fire.
Two boys black as him...
shit!
They ran, those bad boys.
One of them ran under
the wheels
of a 1969 Pontiac - green.
Sirens screamed.
Horns honked.
People panicked.
Melvin’s
frost-bit-one-too-many-times
feet burned,
like holy fire from the bush.
He had to hurry.
He had to be quick.
He had to find another hat
before any more evil thoughts
leaked out and killed more boys.

Sherry Asbury is a freelance writer who has dealt with mental-health issues for many years. Why not learn from those who know best, in a form that is entertaining.

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