Who Decides Who’s Sane?

I woke to white walls, a lock and a name tag clipped to my sleeve;

A world full of strangers who don't seem far too weak to breathe;

I asked for my shoes, they asked for my history, then took both away;

Now every hallway hums like a joke, nobody's brave enough to say;

There's a clock that links a window with bars;

And a nurse who knows my face;

The little signs that keep out chaos;

Which feels like a tear in this place;

If this is a hospital;

Why does it feel like a stay on fire?

And why do they all sing like they've got something to hide or desire?

Who decide? Who say?

Who draws that line?

Who gets to say broken and call it?

We're all one dead gate from the same thin thread;

Laughing in the wood where the living lay dead;

Who decides? You say, not me, not you;

Maybe the ones who never had to come under;

Lisa leans in, smiling like a mad, she's hiding in her glove;

Says, darling, madness is just manners with the volume turned above;

Daisy counts her blessings, then her pills, then a track and a tile;

Polly whispers, do you think they'll let me keep my letters here or what?

Georgina says she's royalty, oh, perhaps she's on the run;

The janitor rolls her eyes and says, at least my delusions are fun;

Mallory pins the chart in sight, please don't touch the emergency bell;

Dr. Richter's watch is like he's mapping every corner of this hell;

They speak in jokes, in bursts, in cursive;

Is in a code I almost learned;

Like every joke in this war is a match;

And every smile might hurt;

Who decides who's sane?

Who draws that line?

Who gets to stay broken;

And call it mine?

Oh, one bad night;

Who sank in dread;

Laughing in the water;

The living play dead;

Who decides who's sane?

Not me, not you;

Maybe the ones who never had to come through;

Freedom's just a room of a better light;

And it hopes us again, but the coffee's frying;

If I count it in;

The dark stays out;

If I'm very still;

I won't hear it show;

I have the eye to crown;

And three good alibis;

You have all my paperwork;

And none of your lies;

You're not your worst day;

Such a diagnosis;

Then why does this room feel like the eye of the crisis?

Who decides to stay?

Who draws the line?

Who gets to say you're broken;

And call it fine?

Who are warning that night?

Who's the sainted thread?

Laughing in the world where the living play dead;

Who decides to stay?

And slowly

I see through the jokes and delays;

We're not just a madness with a hurt that stays;

If saying means alone, then

I don't want the crown;

Maybe I'm not lost, just learning this town;