Ask Your Doctor For Poetry

by Philip Metres

—for Tomás Q. Morín

Do you suffer tingling or stabbing pain?
Poetry may provide the relief you need.
It works on nerves so you can think
about something other than suffering.

Side effects of poetry may include:
a drowsy numbness, wry mouth, blurry
impressionism, swelling constellations,
sudden hungers. Ask your muse about

dilation, microcosm, enjambment
breathing or trouble dreaming, mind
hives or eye knives. Check the title
before consuming poetry. If you’re taking

drugs, you may be more likely
to misuse poetry. Talk with your muse
if you plan to feather a lion or smother
a father. If you miss a dose of poetry,

down it as soon as you remember. You may
smell strange smells. You may hear music
that’s only in your head. Your heart
may swell. It may spread to unnamed parts

of your body. It may become another country.