Opioid 

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A top shelf bourbon

fused stack of spine

the Vicodin going down

 

on my back I listen

for that sparkler sizzle

 

a bloom at the center

of my chest lit from inside

circle the room for seconds

 

thirds a sticking swallow

of gold chrysanthemum

I settle in a boom

 

the bedsheets float

echoes through sleep

a throbbing hangnail

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First Publication: Radius Literary Magazine, 2016