Passing the PILL?
Brightly sun beats sweat out of men--
Abreast, they hold and pass
A bumpy brownness roundball
Dirty-sweaty bronze-gray-brown bodies
Walk, hop, run skate and walk
Pop, shot shoot the pill, outside toll
A hot brazen day on the Tarmac of ”Basketball”
8/21/26
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2026© Imagism
If crying is good for you then why does it make my head hurt? Why does it make
my eyes puff up and my nose run and my face salty? My face is dry and wet all at
the same time now how does that work?
If running is good for you then why does it hurt? Hair and face drenched in a
different salt from before, all sound drowned out by a thunderous roar from
within. Every inch of you screams but you push nonetheless because it’s good
for you, how?
It was easier as a child. I could run for hours and cry for days—in that order
specifically—but now that I’m older everything has its limits. Whether I can
see them or not.
Too much water, too much food, too much love—all of it bad. Too much of
anything is bad for you, the art of indulgence they’ll say.
But why?
English is weird so all of these questions can simply be answered with one
simple word: Because.
I said simple
Not fulfilling.
As if i was to take my heart out for you,
it would never be enough to make you mine,
garbage on my skin, and breath from your eyes
its just mystery where you have the role,
where i lose and all the plans in your book of lies
taken by your imaginary act i feel alone but alive
never ask if my head is backwards or just sideways
as the river dries behind our home
where you wash your bloody clothes
day in and day out
have you realized that this movie is over
your pill bottles are empty
your scars still deep from the day before
beatings you took form this ghost
who sits on your bed side
every morning and every night
he is in love with you it was never me.
Sleepless nights - a nightmare!
Into the dark I stare.
The sheep all accounted,
Weighty whims in my head.
I struggle to scurry
An intrusive worry.
Yet thoughts regenerate
At expedited rate.
I’ve tried meditation
With due dedication.
I gave up caffeine,
Eschewed scrolling the screen.
Oh, I’ve thrown a towel -
I’m no longer an owl!
At ten I am ready -
For sleep, long and steady.
Yet slumber, spirit free,
So not ready for me!
Constant combat but worse -
Malign menopause curse!
Pills or no pills? I am
Back on lorazepam!
Was a party girl named Jill
Known to give men a thrill
Then came the day
Her cycle was late
Jill had missed bc pill
The Uniform
It’s hard to read the minds of guys,
With guarded looks within their eyes.
They talk of sports and pizza pies,
And claim the limit is the skies.
They hate when someone clarifies
The truth behind their little lies.
They want the glory and the prize,
Whatever money never buys.
But watch the way the laughter dies
When one among them truly tries
To drop the heavy, cool disguise
And show the world he’s truly wise.
"Are you happily married?"
"Yeah, but don't tell her my mouth eats varieties,"
A ten-year dark secret well-kept
Between you and me, dear friend.
Though nowadays the teeth are weak,
Sometimes it’s hard to chew—
they can no longer crack bones,
unless I get the right pill over the counter.
Still, it’s a secret you buried in your belly,
That the seed of polygamy took deep root in me,
With four bastards waiting for my will,
While your mouth stays sealed and my conscience pricks.
But please, let not a trace of this disgust
reach my wife’s ear—she’ll skin me alive.
My veiled loyalty must be buried with my casket,
That’s if you and she outlast my secret.
I can be proactive despite my delay
In taking two pain pills so I can slay
Doing the things I can do well despite
A little brown bird of procrastination inside
I went to Goodwill to see what I’d find
Someone’s trash is a treasure of mine
I am so thrilled as I was in a blue bind
Teal goodies are here in the nick of time
Did my best to silver save a few bucks
Made a way out of no way God does
Autumn’s breath beneath whimsical wings
Ears drink notes the geese seem to sing
Daily prayers answered I am so blessed
Like a pink panther I prance in my dress
I’m a little tea pot petite purple loveliness
Not always on top but I denim do my best
I once took a peer pressured pill that sent me in to a hypersensitive thrill. A smiley faced white pill , I was forced to endure to not be labelled a buzz kill. After the effects started to kick in my body began to sway, hallucinations of demons closed in on me which I could not fight away. I was a souls trapped in a human body trying to jump ship, my skin burned to the surface whilst my stomach did a back flip. My peers laughed at me whilst I lost my mind, some tried to take advantage of me on the dance floor with a grind. I felt helpless like I had no control, and I had shed my skin I left my body on the floor she was oh so thin. One tiny pill took my life I followed the reaper to the golden gates whilst he gripped his scythe. Don’t do drugs they take your humanity, addiction paid its price and cost me my sanity
If an apple a day
keeps the doctor away
to such proverb
he'd not subscribe
as the income lost
to defray his cost
foolish he would ascribe
and instead
if looking sickly feeling ill
on my deathbed
a home visit plus pill
he'd quickly prescribe
as a patient I used to be
but now a customer that is me
and the Hippocratic Oath
he ducks like a quack
as to quote it he is quite loath
Well-groomed ye keep thy ample locks curly,
Thy tender big eyes stretch nigh up to ears,
O slender heavenly fairy,
Bright teeth on fair countenance endears,
Thy pearl garland adds to bosom’s beauty,
Everything ‘pon thee untainted appears
To cast upon us vibrations tranquil,
Strange, thou art to men such a passion pill.
_______________________
Translation | 23.08.2025 | beauty, passion, women
Note: Ottava Rima, eight lines in iambic pentameter, rhymed ABABABCC.
Here is a verse from Bhartrihari’s Shringaara Shatakam (hundred verses on love and romance). This one is in Shardul-vikridit meter. The verse says: O thou heavenly beauty, everything about thee is fair and fulsome. Ye cast vibrations that are pure and tranquil. All very well, but still, ye prove to us such a passionate pill. Here is the transliteration of the verse in Sanskrit:
Keshah sanyaminah shruteh api param param gate lochane,
Antar vaktram api svabhava shuchibhih kirnam dvijanam ganaih |
Muktanam satata adhivasa ruchirau vakshoja kumbhavima,
Vittham tanvi vapuh prashantam api te kshobham karoti eva nah || 15 ||
[Verse 1]
Dance near the silver bridge
Drop a penny in
A penny for your thoughts
You smiled like the end of the world
?
[Pre-Chorus – Extended]
You wrap your soul around me
Like silk that strangles soft
Every heartbeat borrowed
Suddenly, I’m suffocating
?
[Chorus – Haunting, Echoed Vocals]
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe anymore
Your kiss was a poison pill
Your lipstick inked like blood
You swore it was medicine
But it dragged me under
?
[Verse 2]
I lie on the floor
I die in your bed
Do I jump in the river
Or hang on for dear life?
You lit the match,
Then kissed the fire
Your love is a torture
Your caress, a shame
A knife that dips
In
And
Out
And calls it love
No scars they can see
But I’m bleeding within
I can’t breathe
I can’t breathe anymore
Your kiss was a poison pill
Your lipstick inked like blood
You swore it was medicine
But it dragged me under
Now I’m gasping
Just to feel the floor
?
A penny falls again
No bridge can bring me back
No wish can stitch me whole
The river keeps her secrets
?
A pill to take away the constant dark clouds of despair.
A pill to take away the thoughts on endless replay.
A pill to take away the crippling fear.
Now I pay the price.
Will my body ever be the same?
That pill took my waist.
That pill took my desire.
That pill took my emotions; only a few come through.
Bitter truth descends,
Hard to take, the medicine,
Acceptance dawns slow.
©bfa051725
there once was an old man named Bill
who liked to brag about his stamina to women for a thrill
one night it was said
with Molly he was limp in bed
Bill said I must have gotten a generic blue pill
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