Lorazepam
       

i don't know shit
about the throat
of a sparrow.
how it can sing
& fly at the same
time. this couch
a sovereign object.
this back, a cadillac
on cinderblocks.
i stood once,
not for something,
rather, on my way
to the kitchen
for something to eat.
              i bit into an apple,
              quite the achievement.
              i wanted to be high
              so lied to the doctor
              about my anxiety,
              the panic attacks
              began then. naming
              the disease made it
              open like a primer
              in my chest. wicked
              mouth, peeling apple
              after apple after reading
              their skins are poison,
              same goes for the seeds.
my man is a monster,
gunfire in the street.
praise the demigod
pharmacy for this
calm blood remedy,
which lets me do
nothing. my back
pinned to the cushion
again. my body, this
magnificent prison,
the ceiling above
bigger than any sky,
one a bird might fall
out of, singing         as it dies.

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Copyright © 2015 Sam Sax All rights reserved
from Rattle
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission