Contributor: Melissa Davis

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Wake up
See a zombie in the mirror
Cry in the bathroom
Unable to swallow anything

Except another pill
Lie down on the coach
Watch the daytime game shows
With no comprehension in your head

Sit like a ghost through dinner
Just woken from a nap
For dessert, another pill
And maybe one more after that

Pass out again
Cry softly and continuously
Scream at everyone, everything
And live through the night
Like a vampire

You could escape – not swallow
Wake up and be human
Never mind, it’s so much easier
To drink down a pill
And live in a dream


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Melissa Davis is a doctoral student and primary teacher. She has had research published in the American Reading Forum Yearbook.