THE NARCOTIC FAMINE
‘The American opioid-overdose epidemic must be addressed in the same stroke as the [global] narcotic famine.’
Hard to imagine
Narcotic famine
The stark hills the plain
Wide face of pain’s
End-of-life. Our morphine-feed.
Their tumbleweed.
Or the black unmitigated tea
Of uninfused misery.
Against our continuous bolus
The subcutaneous solace
That tranquils labored breath,
Sedates us up to death …
Their bitter unassistive pill.
Unpalliated kill.