Sankar Roy

Sick

The doctor prescribes multivitamin for Mirza's general wellness    antidepressant to surpress his mental duress    calcium to reinforce the strength of his bone    his skeleton    garlic pills to    combat his heart's disorder    blood pressure    ginseng to enhance his vision    fluoride to shine Mirza's teeth's enamel    nickel for the fingernail    silicon for the toenail    chromium for body hair    vanilla for body odor    magnesium to boost sex-drive    omega-3 to enhance smoothness of his arteries    white pills for reasons not disclosed    blue pills for only weekends    purple capsules when Mirza has belly pain    green medication for his sleeplessness    tea-drop and ginger root when Mirza has a bad throat    cardamom for his gum disease    mint extracts for Mirza's better memory    zinc to produce    mysterious hormones    too much of which can turn Mirza green and too less of it can turn him pink    biotin to avoid graying    ambrosia to defer death    gooey stuff to stop the heartburn    spongy matter to hide his bad breath    liquid things to keep off the nightmares    solid tablets to curb his substance abuse    generic drug for his common illness    brand names for Mirza's unusual malady such as compassion    affection    longing

Lantern Review: A Journal of Asian American Poetry
Issue 1 | June 2010 | p 43