Pills for Almost Everything

Every morning, eleven little pills
some are capsules, some caplets,
regular tabs and gelcaps. All
different colors and sizes. All
to take my body to health instead
of wherever it is now. Then this is
repeated at bedtime.

Some are to be swallowed with milk
some after eating breakfast or lunch
some on an empty stomach. At night
before bed, in the morning before coffee,
two hours after eating, one hour before.

I have one for memory, three for my heart’s
desire, one to make me pee, another to stop
me from peeing and of course the softener.
So I that won’t get too upset trying to figure out
the rules I have three for making me tranquil.
I almost forgot the most important one, the
blood thinner or thickener, depending on
the bi-weekly blood draw.

All of these medical miracles are covered
by the priceless insurance policy I earned
in thirty-five years of labor to the job. That
and the Medicare and Social Security
that are supposed to go belly-up in
the next ten years.

When I compare this plethora of aids
with my grandmother’s time, I must remember
we live longer and have active lives ten
or twenty years later. Then again, the
nursing homes are there to house us
when we get past caring.