Pueblo County, Colorado
Colorado Insane Asylum

Our State Hospital

The following poem was written by Glenn Bigelow, a nursing attendant at the Colorado State Hospital from 1948 to 1951. It was submitted by Jamie Diaz, a nursing student at Pueblo Community College Fremont Campus. (courtesy of the CMHIP Museum)

OUR STATE HOSPITAL
By: Glen N. Bigalow

The last place in the world we would want to go,
Is to a mental institution, That, we all know.
But out at the end of thirteenth street
Is a state institution that is hard to beat.

It has beautiful lawns and lofty trees,
And beautiful buildings that would any eye please;
It has lovely shrubbery and birds galore,
And sweet scented flowers; you could not ask for more.

We have highly trained doctors here with their wives,
And as surgeons, they're skilled with their old butcher knives
They'll bandage your wounds and care for your ills,
And glad to dole out their potions and pills.

Our nurses are skilled and are creatures of beauty,
And ever unfailing in pursuit of their duty,
With their stiffly starched caps and uniforms neat,
If my wife wouldn't read this, I might say they're sweet.

We male attendants, while not objects of beauty,
Try to stick close to our own line of duty.
Some of us are awkward and don't look so hot,
But take us in general we're not a bad lot.

Our cafeteria is really a treat,
And our dieticians the world cannot beat.
Everything they prepare is always just right,
And you'll find every meal a thing of delight.

Next I will mention our office force;
As in all institutions, they're important of course.
Their skill and efficiency has long brought them fame,
And courtesy, friends, is their true middle name.

Some patients have freedom and some are locked in,
Some keep our wards as neat as a pin,
Some work in the laundry and help to wash clothes,
And some on the farm where everything grows.

Now this description is partial, and to try to toll all
Would take through the spring and the summer and fall.
But I think it is clear and you'll all understand
That C. S. H. is not a bad place to land.

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© Karen Mitchell