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In the book, Serotonin Seas, Jack Freedman used his magnificent vocabulary to stitch thoughts into words, words into images, images into provocations, and provocations back into thoughts for his readers. He struggles within his own inner world and the world at large and he thoughtfully portrays this dilemma in an intimate way. The reader becomes the poet, suffering through his pain and agony, questioning his perceptions, and thrilling in his victories.
Since I am an older southern woman living in Mobile, Alabama, these poems opened up new ways of thinking and seeing the world. He journeys from a place of questioning his persuasions of manic delusions to a place of sound judgment. Anyone who has suffered mental illness will discover this familiar route resolved by Jack Freedman.
In his youth, he believed that those who thought differently from him were being led around mindlessly. As stated in one of his poems, disagreement in society is healthy. I see a man who wants to get to the bottom of each question that life throws out to him. He doesn't live life in a vacuum, but is acutely aware of all the many influences upon him and the world itself. The book vibrates with the passion of his beliefs. Jack's growth in confidence inspires us all to imagine our own recovery.
One of my favorite poems, "Villanelle: Voices in My Brain," spoke to me on such a personal level as I, too, have suffered with hearing destructive voices. Now, in recovery, the voices are rare. This poem eloquently details the battle of those sustaining mental illness. What sets this particular poem apart from all others is the form in which he organized it. The meter, the rhyme, and the refrain are all perfect. This poem reads like silk although the topic is harsh:
“I assure you that these taunts are not something that I feign.
“Words cannot express the desire to watch them recede.
“Fair warning, every syllable you'd hear would be profane.”
Jack stripped himself bare, giving the world a view of being on the outside yet clearly able to see all the nuances of beliefs when one lives with a mental disorder. He deals with the numbing effect of our meds, giving voice to so many of us. This is a book of hope and redemption