Shea McDonough

Broccoli by: Tom Schmidt

1. This poem is about broccoli.
This poem is about mental illness.
This poem is about finding joy in the little things.

2. The persona of Broccoli is a male patient in a mental institution. His name

is Alfred. At thirty-eight years old, Alfred has spent the last five years
committed to Summit Behavioral Healthcare Hospital. However, Alfred often
forgets that he is institutionalized. Alfred formerly indulged in many
recreational drugs and he wound up being committed after a few too many
bad trips. The drugs destroyed his brain and now he suffers from
hallucinations. These hallucinations are usually inspired by Alfreds
immediate surroundings and he has very little control over them. Alfred is
rather simple and does not ask for much, but he does have a couple requests.
Alfred always asks for broccoli with his lunch, as it is his favorite vegetable.
Every day at lunch time, Alfred looks intently at the broccoli and lets the
hallucinations take over. Though Alfreds life may seem sad, he is very happy
when he is surrounded by broccoli. He makes the best out of his less-thanideal situation.
3. Alfred is recounting dreams, hallucinations, and other memories of broccoli.
Alfred struggles to separate his hallucinated visions from reality. Words I was
unsure of included thicket (meaning dense group of trees) and sinuous (curvy
and supple). The most evocative phrase is, my straight brown hair [has]
gone to tight green knots. My limbs oddly sinuous even crunchy.
4. I see only one window in this small white room. It has been completely sealed
shut so no fresh air can enter the room. There is but one chair, a tiny side
table, and an uncomfortable looking bed which create a clinical, lifeless, and

uninviting atmosphere. I hear voices through the walls, some loud and some
calm. It smells like when I used to visit my grandmother in the nursing home.
I feel so cold and lonely. I glance down at my lunch tray and suddenly all the
walls change from plain white to supple green. I am now surrounded by
broccoli. My surroundings feel bumpy and fibrous to the touch. The floor
beneath my feet is now bushy and sturdier than before. Random objects are
sprouting large green flowering heads. The growth is making a loud pumping
sound that is like a balloon being filled with air. Everything smells and tastes
like broccoli which is not particularly flavorful, but I would liken it to some
variation water.
5. Alfred is speaking to himself in this poem over lunch. Alfred rarely leaves his
room and he has few visitors.
6. Alfred suffers from a chemical imbalance in his brain which causes his mental
illness and hallucinations. Although he no longer takes recreational drugs,
Alfred is still highly medicated by his doctors. His medications have many
side effects, intensifying his hallucinations.
7. I found that discovering the persona of this poem was the most crucial. At
first read through, this poem comes off as very silly, so coming up with a
plausible scenario really helped me get a better grasp on this poem. With
creating a persona, I was able to find some reality in Alfreds wacky world.