Music in the middle of the night,
Cutting and smothering
And all those other feelings
One can't seem to escape from
When it's too late at night,
Or perhaps early in the morning,
And you're wondering if this is
One of those moments
They refer to on television
During commercials for Cymbalta
Or Zoloft or Prozac:
"Tell your doctor immediately if--"
And you feel the out of place
Urge to weep
Or write a story about someone
Who dies trying to learn to swim.
You hardly cry anymore,
And you think this is because the
"Tell your doctor immediately if"
Has turned off that part of you
So you can read that section in
The anthology or
Write that midterm paper about
Racism in America and
How it bleeds from pages
Of contemporary American novels
Written by men and women
Who have much more to
Weep about than you.
If you only would close your eyes,
The pressure behind your spine
And underneath your brain
And inside your heart
Will go away,
And you won't have to
"Tell your doctor immediately if--"