Whether it’s a saying or not
I don’t know but if it isn’t,
well it should be. It sure sounds like one,
“Mad as a Mongaloid,” maybe I just
dreamed it up, maybe not maybe its the
alliteration that gives it such nice sound quality. Either way,
if you’ll indulge me…  

Daryl is the guy next door.
He and I share a bathroom, 
so we’re kind of roommates
but we’re kinda not because
all we share is a bathroom.  

Then again, we don’t even share
the whole bathroom, all we share is a shower
because I have my own bathroom
with its own shitter. But besides,
I don’t even need a shitter –
I just do my business in the bed, in a bedpan.

Some mornings he will wake up early and start yelling.
The first few times he did this I yelled back,
“You ok,” or “Need help?” I wanted to be nice,
as helpful as possible without embarrassing the guy.
Whether he didn’t hear or simply ignored me, I’ll never know,
the point is I got nothing, which I thought was rude.  

Later on I’d learn that Daryl is severely
stricken with Down syndrome. I’m only
guessing as to the severity of his diagnoses, but it’s bad enough
for him to be in here. There’s other instances
when I’ll hear little tidbits of info, Like when breakfast or lunch
is being served and Daryl will be yelling like mad,
my feeder will say something about why Daryl
is angry this morning or how mean he is over such and such.
They will continue on about the time they tried to help him but
he resisted or refused, and tried to scratch, bite, gouge,
tussle, or act out in some unruly way.
I think I’d be wise to stay clear of ole Daryl, not let my guard down.
This whole situation makes me mad as hell!