Sane is crazy,
merely a matter
of semantics.

Swallow forty
white pentagonal
pills, then force

blood to bead,
transform from
blue to red

as proof of life.
Snap-tapping
clothes tumble,

magnetic keys
set off the tweet-
beeping locks,

clunking doors
open and close,
charts clank shut

harmonizing into
a symphony heard
only by those who

chose to listen and
others who cannot
help but hear.

Pale blue plastic
sealed by sweat
to cracked flesh

protects me from
hepatitis bacteria
laying in wait

on gray formica.
It can live months
without a host.

Humans cannot
survive more than
a week without water.
3.19.05