"COME WITH ME! I have an AMAZING idea!"
Amanda Viers

lacquered in a heavy, grey film,
I observe the world.

blotting out detail
pursing my lips on the tissue of dim
my visage enhanced.

smoke surfaces where it does not belong

my fingers seem foreign
I examine them in wonderment

breezeway lips to imagined or real destructions
amazing grace pleas hummed at an unsteady tempo

these chemicals write my blood chemistry
chain reactions radiate through my nervous system
store-bought lobotomy
I develop a tic.

"The benefits outweigh the side effects,"
they say.
The noises become quiet, I jest.

my day is restricted to bar graphs and pie charts
delicious reminders of differential indifference.

I slink into my bed and lie still in waking hours
watching patterns on the ceiling at night
when the chemicals may run free;
It is not safe.

Take two sedatives and call me when you shake them, lady.
My fears have been reduced to milligrams.

There is a tear in the seams
I venture out
examine things slowly and watch
colors bleed together

to myself I proclaim, in question,
Is this a glimpse of happiness
or does it simply
define madness?