Medicine Blues Poem by Vallerie Lobell

They say I'm depressed, my grief I repress,
What they want out of me?
My son is gone, my sister too,
Where do they expect me to be?

I must take this new medicine,
On this they all insist,
It will do this and do that,
How can I the serotonin? resist?

But it is now midnight,
I am sick, hot flashes and cold sweats,
I got kids to get off to school,
How this new drug helps ain't figured out yet,

I feel like I drunk a bottle of wine,
I'm a droopy eyed wide awake jerk,
I could just dropp dead here,
Waiting for this med to work,

I don't do drugs or smoke no pot,
Is this the buzz I hear such a big deal?
Well ya'll can have it for all I care,
I 'd rather feel the things that are real,

Like the grief and misery I have to go through,
And suffer this menopause like my Mama did,
No hormone theraphy for me if you please.
Got 5 other sisters and 2 other kids,

None will the replace the others,
So if you pass me on the street,
And you see the sadness in me,
And I look like I've been beat,

You can thank the pharmacies cross the land,
They've done wonders for me as you can see,
I 'd as soon die missing the ones I love,
Than what these meds do to me,