Description

On the Bright Side

By Andrew Aldred

ISBN: 978-1-78382-317-8
Published: 2016
Pages: 35
Key Themes: Mental Health, Mental Illness, Paranoid Schizophrenia

Description

This book is a continued mixture of poetry and short stories. The poetry is about my daily life as a paranoid schizophrenic and issues that concern me, and hopefully will concern you, the reader, as well. The issues covered include current affairs, relationships and family. The short stories are about a variety of topics including a mental patient on the run, a cannibal woman, a child-molesting murderer, discipline in the army, life as a single parent and terrorism.

About the Author

I have been in Mental Health Services since 1985, when I had a huge mental breakdown after serving in the Falklands with the army. Since then my life has been something of a rollercoaster of mental illness until meeting my wife Jane seven years ago.

I have been in and out of hospital from 1985 until 2009. I had an illness which I attributed to my father and resulted in me stabbing him in 1997 and going to the Edenfield Unit in Prestwich Hospital for 6 years. This is when I started to write poetry to keep myself sane and give me something to focus on.

Book Extract

The Opposition

Where is the opposition?
Where is the other party?
What are Jeremy Corbyn’s policies?
Why does he want to be in charge of the Labour party?
What is going on?
Where will he get the money
For the Social Reforms he wants to put into place?
Will he pull it out of a hat?
If he’s a magician he’s running out of tricks
There is no other party in this day and age
There’s only the Conservatives
There’s no money to spend in this age of austerity
And so there’s no need for the Labour party
The opposition? What opposition?
They’re a joke and a shambles
Its time someone came along and kicked the Labour party into shape
Twisted and Broken