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maladaptive behavior

by

800px-Joshua_Tree_National_Park_JOTR3615

By Will Falk

when I feel crazy or when
I run out of things to say
as if there really is a difference
I wonder why I even bother
to write all this down

when I feel crazy or when
I run out of things to say
I go to Joshua Tree
I like to find a warm, flat stone
to sit on and read and think

one time I took the DSM IV with me
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
fourth edition, the psychologists’ bible

I read that talking to a rock is atypical
not necessarily pathological
but when a patient believes
the rock is talking back
that is maladaptive behavior

I stopped and remembered a time
spent in the hospital when
my doctor summed it up like this:
“it’s okay to speak to stones
it’s when they speak back
you should be worried”

but there are no doctors in Joshua Tree
there are no patients either
there are just many, many stones
and they told me
to write all this down

Will Falk

Will Falk

Will Falk moved to the West Coast from Milwaukee, WI where he was a public defender. His first passion is poetry and his work is an effort to record the way the land is speaking. He feels the largest and most pressing issue confronting us today is the destruction of natural communities. He received a Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Chapter, 2016 Journalism award. He is currently living in Utah.

Comments

  1. Will- I can’t get out to Joshua Tree very easily. When I am feeling crazy, I read your poetry. Thanks.

  2. Thank you, Anna!

    I hope my poems don’t leave you feeling crazier…I’m not as good a poet as the stones out there…

  3. Let the stones speak out! And when you are tired of listening sit and have some stone soup while you get stoned.

  4. Love this one & love to hear the inspiration you’re bringing to others! JTree is an amazingly spiritual place. I say: Sometimes it’s best to forget the doctors who may do great things but haven’t had the time to sit on a rock, meditate, & get lost w/nature for a while. I say: Treatment recommendations might change after they take some much needed time in nature & sit silent far from western medicine, chaos & doubt. Maybe then…then they would tell what our heart already knows – sometimes nature knows best.

    PS – Another JTree adventure around the corner (2 weeks). Get books & rock time ready, I’m sure there will be lots to hear :)

  5. “Maybe then…then they would tell what our heart already knows – sometimes nature knows best.”

    beautiful, Tori. Thank you!

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