Side Effects of Medication

I feel dull from the blue pill that I took,
Notoriously a flattener of mood.
I triple-read each sentence of my book
And by slow-loping furies am pursued;

Except they never reach me. Just their wheeze
And whine and whistle irritate my ear.
A Tiger tank is hidden in the trees:
Time’s chariot broods on ways to hurry near.

A whir, a blur, a whingeing void in flight,
Shaped flame eats into me and halves my weight.
The muscles in my legs are pipe-clay tight.
Time for another pill. It must be late:

It must be later than I think, I think.
Another dose of Nothing Done begins,
And there is lemon squash for us to drink.
May Christ forgive me for the worst of sins,

The one the old-style monks called accidie.
It meant to have an ice-field for a face.
I shave myself. I that knew ecstasy
Cope with the clean-up of my fall from grace,

And start another day on the inside.
I try to write. The pieces will not fit
Together. In the phrase “broke down and cried”
Note what comes first. There is no end to it.