I sensed panic…the seeming absence of staff…brought all institutional behaviours to the fore
It was mayhem
This is number 10 of fifty pieces of poetry and prose written by Peter Limbrick as a monument to adults and children who have lived and died or are living now in inhuman situations. They are all inspired by real experience.
10. Curtain
Given the choice on this visit, I had opted to stay with
the children rather than have coffee in the staffroom.
‘Children’ here included inmates in their early twenties
waiting for a place in an adult institution.
Staffrooms in places like this are often smoke-filled
rooms with a TV set showing repeat day-time
programmes with men and women slumped in chairs.
Just like inmates on adult wards! To be avoided.
For the staff break, all the children were brought into
the assembly hall.
If there were orderlies in charge they were keeping a
low profile.
It was mayhem.
A hall full of children left to their own devices in free
activity; biting hands, rocking, banging heads against the
wall, aimless running, shouting, screaming, crying, pulling
at locked doors, tearing at clothes, discarding
incontinence pads...
I sensed panic and desperation in the room as though
the seeming absence of staff to watch over this large
group had heightened anxiety, brought all institutional
behaviours to the fore.
A small girl, probably older than her apparent four or
five years, fell over, banged her knee, cried and looked
around for someone to run to.
She made her way to sit on the low windowsill
and hug the curtain.
The other 49 pieces can be seen here:
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 1 to 10)
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 11 to 20)
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 21 to 30)
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 31 to 40)
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 41 to 50)
