[written about my mother]
I have been watching you suffer
poisoned by drugs your body needs
to keep your heart pumping
and your lungs breathing
confetti-like pills with acidic names
that raise pus-colored ulcers
across the geography of my tongue
when I try to pronounce them
(I hate how the harsh clusters of consonants
like Zs and Xs and Ks and Ds
scrape them against their blistery grain
and leave a bloody taste in my mouth)
your cure could very well kill you
so I have no choice but to watch you suffer
Wendy Lloyd
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-have-been-watching-you-suffer/
