"acetaminophen" poems
Temptations have left me forsaken
but my will was only shaken
shortly leaving some mistaken
that I would falter to the poison of my generation
I seek salvation
In a place built upon degradation
I pick at the foundation
Wishing for a system malfunction
The gears have given me an allergen
The pushed solution cut with acetaminophen
To numb the blind into oblivion
A wise man seems much like an alien
Corruption rises as the population lays down
Praising kings without a crown
Pasting plastic smiles over the town
This massive break from reality has really paid off
The fruits we'll never see and rich we'll never be
No matter how much cash you receive
Consider your soul far out of reach
Apr 12, 2013
Apr 12, 2013 at 5:48 PM UTC
And so as a man, a job,
a cactus wearing a business suit sharing relations with the hydrant down the street.
A ***** strapped to a baby carriage with plastic baggie cellphones
yelling "run away now"
to the grass at his feet.
A man devoid of water, rather.
These are the times
A well, emptied.
Rather death
find waves of spilled milk and
all the fat people, skinny.
A dry mouth desert, kneeling
In either breath of a living feeling
or the one that talks of so much
for only the wealth of his screaming.
Some tiny furniture talked all night about running through wheat,
ebbing and flowing against the end tables,
then falling short as crumbling tree leaves.
An ottoman as recycle bin holding stem
from stem of watermelon children
and vine-ripened acetaminophen.
Some odd truth told the blowing wind that
God does cartwheels with Lucifer at random.
It then billowed out about
his ***** underwear and holy fodder for memorandum.
I would say a man, a vision,
A little girl using a GPS to calculate the distance from the rest her teething.
Instead, she found a funny barbeque ***** playing hog-tied pharmaceutical reps into neoprene
mud-flapping pigeons.
I would say the sinking plastic six-pack islands revealing trash limbs,
sunken,
honest,
grim.
Life, itself, must move in tandem to only fleeting geese.
Though in plan, the artisan-picking fruit of word must be depicted.
Live in sin and ignorance much like the
breaking news walking on broken record.
And so as a man; a fear.
He looked down, staring at no one
with bare feet and shaken, coconut flavored palm trees.
Jan 28, 2013
Jan 28, 2013 at 4:27 PM UTC
walk side streets
alone - headphones.
zones of melody
channeling canals
deeper than all
the billboards basted
by bad barters.
must’ve been mistaken.
although their dressed
up, they’re simmering
thin - acetaminophen.
finished, drugged bugs
cling strings holding
last lines of defense.
Jan 27, 2015
Jan 27, 2015 at 2:02 PM UTC
Dopamine and acetaminophen.
Overdose and recoup.
Red and blues you can swallow like candy.
Controversial tests of trust and health.
Shiny coated treats to take you away.
Whichever you chose be careful.
It's chemical warfare.
Aug 13, 2013
Aug 13, 2013 at 8:54 AM UTC
A place just for me, you see.
I can hid there and never be seen.
In this place I typically don't cry.
I am the real me, no need to cut me ear to ear just to see a smile here.
You see dear, if I ever were to tell you what I imagine here you'd have me sent away.
Would you like a little insight?
Shhh, don't tell of these words.
I think of taking the blade that sits there in the corner and slicing my wrists.
Letting the blood drip.
I find it fascinating to hold my hand up, like I could just grab a star.
But then the reality is, I am only holding my arm up to let the blood run down it.
I let it pour out.
Its no longer a drop or two,
I've grown out of that faze.
I like thinking of the acetaminophen sitting just 4 inches away.
I reach for it, it rubs against my finger tips
I can't grasp it,
palms too sweaty and hands too shaky.
I finally get it into my reach.
I reach in with my ****** index and pointer fingers,
I get out just two pills.
It is just a start I tell myself, just enough for a deep sleep.
But then I remember I never want to be woken up.
I swallow the two pills and pick up the blade again.
I carve "victim" into my thigh,
that's what I was my whole life.
I get some blood on my fingers,
I am aware I have only a few minutes before I become dizzy.
I start writing my suicide note to my family.
I am writing it my blood.
Maybe I could have left something more beautiful,
imagine not being able to find your daughter but when you did she was in a puddle of blood with ****** writing surrounding where she lays, limp and cold.
I reach for the bottle of acetaminophen.
I need more, lots more, to reach my desired amount of sleep.
I pour the bottle on my hands, one pill falls, then two, then three.
I eventually lost count.
I careful place each and every pill on my tongue.
I let each one represent everything bad I have been called, and everything bad i've been forced into.
I step closer to my deep sleep.
I feel the ***** coming up my throat,
Like the demons crawling up my insides.
I ***** up water, I haven't eaten in days.
I ***** and then curl up into a ball,
I am surrounded by my own blood.
I'm slipping away,
I can feel it.
Good night, I whisper.
H.T
Dec 2, 2013
Dec 2, 2013 at 9:58 PM UTC
I would have to rely
on drugs
in order to recover
from you
Acetaminophen
for the pain
that never seems
to go away
Lithium
to keep me sane
for a functioning brain
Propofol
for temporary euphoria
a tinge of a smile
even just for a while
Cepalin
for the scrapes
and for the
scars to fade
All knowledge used
and resources searched
still I couldn't find the cure
to make me forget you.
Apr 14, 2013
Apr 14, 2013 at 12:05 PM UTC
you will learn to shift your weight around
You will learn to lean against things
To always clutch handrails
You will learn to rate things from one to ten ten being the worst you’ve ever felt
You will learn loss
You will lose functionality
You will lose what you used to love doing
You will learn not to partake in barbecue games, bowling nights
You will learn to politely decline invitations
You will lose friends
Hobbies
Muscle memory
You will learn to accept it
You will learn that it is unacceptable
You will lose sympathy for others
You will lose track of things
You will learn that there is always something more to lose
You will learn to hold just a few things sacred
to cling only to that which you cannot lose
You will learn that those things too can be lost
You will learn to hate god
You will learn how unobservant most people are
You will learn not to disclose
You will learn what not to say to avoid their suggestions and advice
You will learn to be alone
You will learn the difference between NSAIDs and acetaminophen
between hydro and oxy
the difference between SSI and SSDI
between deductibles and out of pocket maximums
You will learn to cry in hospital parking garages
You will learn the limits of modern medicine for the working and middle classes
You will learn to lower your expectations
You will learn the definition of the word palliative
You will learn to live with it
You will learn to smile for pictures
You will learn to claim a seat early
You will learn to summarize
You will learn good days and bad days
You will learn sorry I know this is last minute but I have to cancel
You will learn to love deeply
You will learn to apologize profusely
You will learn how successful other people will become
You will learn what it means to be a body
You will learn so much
You will learn so so much
Dec 1, 2023
Dec 1, 2023 at 5:04 AM UTC
Migraine
Throbbing noises , neon lights
Please ! Go away
Smell of caffeine ,
It's being unendurable
Oh ! Aura stabbed me
Torment troubles somewhere around
I want the drug acetaminophen
Don't drill my cerebrum
Head is walking with nightmares
Monsters are advocate there
I need relief
Agony is so inconsiderate
Fire is in brain and flood in the eyes
ibuprofen ? Didn't work !
Headache is still over eye
Though attack is fixed for skull ,
I'm taking high dose aspirin
Now , I'm gonna sleep with migraine
And wake up with migraine .
©Smriti Ranabhat
May 21, 2018
May 21, 2018 at 11:42 PM UTC
the blood is pooling down my wrist
and pills bubbling in my throat
i cannot live a life like this
i cannot go on with life holding me captive.
the scars don't hold enough
to make me stop cutting
the hospitalizations don't weigh enough
for me to stop trying
i will win this battle with
acetaminophen
i will win, the devil's will lose
or is it the other way around
you talked me into it
your stupid ******* words and all their carelessness
wash it down with liquor
you know it's worth nothing
to say i love you
the words don't come as slow as they used to
a little bit of knowledge will destroy you
i'll miss the music
i'll miss the days
i'll miss waking up to sunrise
and you delivering my pills
i'll miss you caring every single second of the day
i'll miss you hoping i'll be okay
but this time i wont
this time i can't stay
because a boy destroyed me,
shattered my already broken core
all that will be left
is bones
Dec 14, 2013
Dec 14, 2013 at 12:27 AM UTC
I am hungry and I am not silent
I am thirsty with a cask full of headaches - but I don't partake
I am mindful of the acetaminophen with codeine
because they take the pain away...
So I am no longer hungry
and the thirst continues with the glass 1/2 full
salt pepper and sugar mixed with baking soda add cupful of flour and raw egg. I can certainly add mayonnaise
MIX &EAT; MIX &EAT; MIX &EAT;
and she tells me that she loves me
and she expels her lonely thoughts
and she runs in circles with clarity
as the clock continues to tick
as my hunger persists for hours and days upon days that last
I can no longer go through this
and all is becoming useless
as the type written lines are becoming shorter
my height has become my tolerance...
Jul 22, 2015
Jul 22, 2015 at 12:12 PM UTC
brush your hair
comb the edge
get rid of your blemishes
upkeep things
organize
nyquil for the idle hands
know you're wrong
don't say so
arguments are a lost cause
snapback hat
novelty
time for the collection fee
walmart brand
can of worms
guilty for the selfish hearse
you're alright?
yeah, i am
throw it in a garbage can
cellophane
selling pain
dip head in the ocean plain
saline eyes
retina sees
iridescence in the trees
shutter flash
phosphenes lie
LED painted sky
thumb moves past
impulse read
why don't you stay in bed?
travel blogs
saved to note
corkboard creaks, tilted down
birdcage closed
food poured in
aluminum paper thin
fields of wheat
eyelash closed
only at the tip of your nose
dusk rolls in
pavement hides
suburbs in your alveoli
inhale once
exhale twice
chew on tepid freezer ice
Sep 19, 2024
Sep 19, 2024 at 11:54 PM UTC
I'm a chemist too, Walter. Don't believe me? Just take a look at my blood. This iron, albuterol sulfate, acetaminophen, all this? I did it.
Don't force my hand, sweetheart.
Don't bite the poet that feeds.
Don't lick the flames that keep that rage you have going, you'll lose your identity.
Don't make your mother scream if you don't want to count bruises.
Don't be too soft, child.
Don't be too ugly, boy/girl/parasite.
Your God's a lion, recently fed, drowsy.
I wish you'd believe me when I say I'm sick, Dad. My tongue's falling out.
Jun 27, 2016
Jun 27, 2016 at 10:26 PM UTC
It seems the little man with his hammer and chisel,
Has cracked the top of my skull,
Made a crack not so little,
And now my brain’s far too full,
Tick tick tick,
Ting ting ting,
He caused a split,
Heavy hitting,
This migraine is mine,
There’s not enough time,
Not enough,
Time.
Sep 19, 2013
Sep 19, 2013 at 12:44 AM UTC
Dear Pastor,
I was wandering the church yesterday, and there was a lady crying in your office. Do you know anything about that? Anyway I'm just writing to say: I know you came from that little mud hut in Uganda or something, and I can tell that this is your chance to start anew, but its getting a little crazy here. I heard that like, Four babies overdosed on acetaminophen under your watch. I don't know how true that is, but I believe it. And Whats that rumor that you are starting a zoo all about? Sounds pretty genuine. And the Christmas tree is hanging from the ceiling, because the toothless **** head bit you? Not very forgiving of you. All that going on and you're building a castle? Eh, whatever, you ain't special. Thomas More wrote Utopia before you started blabbing about it.
Sincerely,
Un-Baptised degenerate.
Mar 22, 2017
Mar 22, 2017 at 12:57 PM UTC
Lawrence Hall
[email protected]
Night Court
For the Prosecution: Spring Allergens
For the Defense: Anti-Histamines and Acetaminophen
If only headaches went away at night
They don’t, and a fresh catalogue of pills
Does nothing except fog reality
The world spins on and on, and sometimes off
The pillow is a bitter accuser
Detailing again all of life’s mistakes
The sheets and blankets wrinkle in disdain
The world’s last spring-wound clock grinds through the hours
Maybe the world will stabilize at dawn
If only the headaches will go away
Mar 23, 2017
Mar 23, 2017 at 3:30 PM UTC
father awakened
beckoned by bathroom in night
his death approaching like headlights in
rear-view
in cars he careened into cornfields so
long ago
in women he obsessed over
poured over while rolling tea
in records he flips through
languidly
suffering alone, retracting into song
crucifix still hung over his jaded bedpost
lotion still sits on by his bed
where he lay debased and tempted
by nothing
while his house breaths fissures
and crumbles
where his legacy sits truncated and dusted
in books of song
carpet collecting impressionistic stains
stove top counting days with soot
medicine cabinet reminds of his frivolous
youth
when he was foolish and paid bills
before he was afraid to climb his creaking
stairs
before he delivered flowers to the funeral
home
before the acetaminophen ate his soul
May 14, 2019
May 14, 2019 at 6:33 PM UTC
It will never really go away, and I am coming to accept that.
It will be there like the copper aftertaste of cheap chocolate that oils the roof of my mouth
Like the scoff of my shoes on the hotel carpets that’d annoy my father
The ticking of the clock ten minutes off during practice
The icy temperatures of the history classroom as I attempt to pay attention
Like the rattle of the acetaminophen tablets in my pill bottles
The sweaty nights accompanied by tears and fretting for the morning
The feeling in my stomach when a test is placed in front of me
Like the way he looks at me from down the hall with wandering eyes to match his heart
The way my compass sometimes catches on the surface of the paper and ruins the circle entirely
The moment of panic before I remember my locker combination
Like the cold feeling of going to sleep with wet hair and stubbly legs
The dry tightness of my skin after washing my hands
The cracking of my face under my nose due to rough tissues
Like the threatening surfaces of frozen water in the parking lot
The gagging taste of cough syrup as it spills down my throat
The embarrassment of not knowing the answer in class and sputtering out “uh”s and “um”s
But accepting that doesn’t rule out the good
There will be days filled with shocking ecstasy
Like the moment a snow day is announced
The grade boost after a well prepared for test
A good night’s sleep
Warm days
Cold nights
New sweatshirts waiting to have memories sewn into their fibers
Putting lotion on after shaving
Buying bed sheets
Drinking tea
Finding a new band
Going to concerts
Living
Breathing
Beating
Moving
Feeling
Loving
Maybe it's not so bad if I accept that my days won’t be perfect
After all
Balance is key in the face of diversity
Oct 28, 2016
Oct 28, 2016 at 11:46 PM UTC
—How are you?
—Gettin' by
—Good
—Yep
She was on her third bourbon as they exchanged texts. The smell of it wafted in her face as she held the snifter up to her nose. The sweet syrupy smell of cheap bourbon. She dangled a cat toy in her free hand while the black and white and tabby thing watched the feather sway back and forth in the air. Head turning with each pass like the cat wall clock they used to have when she was little. The clock's eyes glowed in the dark. And it was really dark at night back then when they lived out in the middle of a farming settlement in western Pennsylvania. The interior of the single-story ranch house was decorated in classic fifties kitsch: braided rag rugs clashing with the Oriental lamps, green leaf wallpapering, and glow-in-the-dark cat wall clocks. She took a sip of the room temp bourbon then set the glass down. The cat had lost interest in the dangling feather cat toy so she set that down as well. She got up and walked down the hall to the bathroom. She peed, washed her hands in the sink, then steeled herself for the obligatory glance in the mirror. What she saw: an image of a woman that didn't immediately plummet her into an abyss of self-loathing. She would settle for that. She reflexively opened the cabinet door: hair clips, tweezers, baby oil, alcohol, cotton swabs, dental floss, Zoloft, Estradiol, acetaminophen, double-edge razor blades, no razor. She closed the door then said to her reflection: "We should get out of here. Dontcha think?" She looked away, then back again, flounced her hair, and said: "Or dontcha?"
Jan 29, 2022
Jan 29, 2022 at 7:21 PM UTC
Where does one begin?
Digging through the skin?
Or maybe I should start with something deeper within?
You rip out my teeth,
In a bid for relief,
But the joke is on you, because down underneath
it all
falls right down again,
drowned in acetaminophen,
And somewhere along the way,
we heard somebody say,
"Now,
there's footprints on the wall,
leading down the hall,
your actions may be big, and yet, your heart is still small."
The voices try to sing,
yet all I hear's a ring,
but when I listen closely I can make out some thing
that says
"You can get up again,
you're stronger than you've ever been."
And somewhere along the way,
I knew I'd be okay.
Apr 8, 2018
Apr 8, 2018 at 12:13 AM UTC
3am and abruptly, I'm awoken
By yet another flashback
Accompanied by a throbbing headache
Reminding me I'm broken
But that's nothing but a bed of roses
Compared to the knives I had to endure with him
Two, four, six, not even ten
Pills of acetaminophen
Put me back to sleep
In my agony I lay back
Struggling not to relive the experience
But again I feel hands that creep
And explore my unwilling body
Ripping me of my wings
Leaving me all ******
My heart's pounding
My body's burning
Oh God! Does this ever end?
I guess not
Maybe its true trauma lasts forever
Because it's been 12 months
And it's been haunting me ever since
Jan 17, 2020
Jan 17, 2020 at 11:55 AM UTC