Tell me why the patient is still crying.
What pharmaceuticals? pain pills? barbiturates?
What pretties has the doctor been supplying?
Finish the prescription. Don’t give up trying
the newest, truest of amalgamates.
Tell me why the patient is still crying.
Xanax will put you down when you are flying,
while Ecstacy delivers altered states.
What pretties has the doctor been supplying?
Whatever truths you cannot help denying
let Sodium pentothal unlatch the gates.
Tell me why the patient is still crying.
One dosage is for selling, one for buying,
Rohypnol for those reluctant dates.
What pretties has the doctor been supplying?
Tell me what you dole out to the dying.
What paradise or punishment awaits?
Tell me why. The patient is still crying.
What pretties has the doctor been supplying?
Featured Image: “Pharmacy – Daily Remedies,” photograph, by Mark Savad.
Great modern villanelle!
(so sadly true)
You got it right. We are more than our synapse chemistry, even if we are not, because we FEEL we are more than our biochemistry.
Marc, I agree. I myself like how this poem talks about biochemistry & our artificial paradises, but laces in a lot of religious concerns. Done that before, but it’s always a nifty trick.
Mike