February 11, 2008

Tieing knots with booze:

An excerpt from Knots, a book of poetry by the radical psychiatrist R.D. Laing, that attempted to capture some of the traps, maladaptive thinking patterns and emotional bonds that we find ourselves in, usually in relationships with others.

Some of the poems describe simple but powerful vicious circles, others are complex and almost algorithmic labyrinths of self-justification and denial.

She has started to drink
  As a way to cope
  that makes her less able to cope

the more she drinks
the more frightened she is of becoming a drunkard

the more drunk
the less frightened of being drunk

Apparently, the book was made into a film, although I know very little else about the screen version. Luckily though, most of the poems are now available online.

Perhaps some of Laing's insight was due to the fact that he was not without his own troubles. He suffered from depression and drinking problems during his life - infamously appearing on Ireland's Late Late Show drunk and incoherent.

Link to poems from Knots by R.D. Laing.

—Vaughan.