The Argives Unmedicated by David Penner

And so Antilochus smote Echepolus,
Thrusting a spear into his brain, the Trojan

Gazing at the azure ether, then crashing
Towards the dark; lunging at his foe, Diomedes

Struck Phegeus, planting a lance into his heart,
The white walls breaking, a crimson geyser in

The rain; insensate burning, Menelaus downing
Peisander with a thunderous blow, the lifeless

Body crushed beneath the raging of the charger.
Raising a bloody blade, the son of Telamon

Struck Laodamas with such force that he was
Unsaddled thereon, a phantom roving in the

Shadows, undrawn upon the main; whereon
Patroclus felled Thestor, cleaving his

Helm straight through, the Teucrianā€™s soul
Thus spent, his eyes spared the

Fallen parapets. And Euryalus slew
Aesepus, and Odysseus Noemon,

Idomeneus Alcathous, and Achilles
Astypylus – and to think they did

All that without any Prozac,
Luvox, or Seroquel

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Mad in America hosts blogs by a diverse group of writers. These posts are designed to serve as a public forum for a discussionā€”broadly speakingā€”of psychiatry and its treatments. The opinions expressed are the writers’ own.