DEATH BY CHEMISTRY
I have lost two friends prematurely last year. Both of them were under the care of psychiatrists and not depressed. This is my answer:
From the time we first met
I have not loved you, Doc
when you decided to needle me
I felt a decisive spark.
With your diagnosis you ask me to
face an early death
two friends down in as many months
soon I will be joining them it seems
Both of them died of side effects
of the drugs they were prescribed
at 49 and 63 and I am right between
should I call an undertaker?
At my age I should have an identity
instead you give me a label
can you tell me the likely warning signs
when I am about to explode, harmlessly
It would seem. Because that is what we do.
Undistressed I plunder on
through life’s impure regimens
but no one will think with me as I go.
“Is it catching, what you have?
we’ve heard what you can do
don’t want to stand too close
but we wish you well all the same.”
