morpheus pills

at the zenith of my nightmares

i was prescribed

xanax

a purple pill, unassuming

soapy in my mouth

i popped it night

by night

i refused— yelled— screamed— blathered

each clacking cricket, pinprick star

and jumping cat on my roof

jolted me from my

pill of sleep

and morpheus came down each

night to wrestle with me

in my bed, made me

eat full— each— twilight— hour

so i

got down on all fours and barked like a dog

spittle frothing from the corners of my lips,

dripping from my smiling tongue

before another purple pill, unassuming

bitter in my mouth

popped again, night

after night

down my gullet

i wept— stared— still and— crowed

and i

flapped down on my wings and bleated like

a crane, warbles hanging from my beak,

spilling from my desperate tongue

i tossed off in the twilight hours

begging for release

from morpheus

i cried— kicked— punched— threw myself

out of my window, clacking

bones landing on the

grey pavement

morpheus brought his long fingers

slender, skeletal

and shushed me