soul cells
I can see it
clearly
even though the napkin is
folded and crumpled
around the small things
it covers,
I can see on it
a drawing of a dragon
with flowers for horns
it pokes its
forked tongue at me
and winks
also its eyes
have long lashes
“You listening?” she says
shaking the
fist that holds the
napkin
I can no longer see
the dragon drawn
on it
“What?”
I say
She proceeds to open the
napkin and
reveals a few small, white
pills.
“Forget what they taught
you in school. Despite
all they said,
the nerve cells of the brain
can actually be regenerated.
It's been proven.
An' you can do it
with these here beauties.
C'mon, take one.”
“What?” I said. “I didn't
know my nerve cells
are damaged.”
“That's because your
nerve cells
are damaged,” she said
“Damn...”
“No, seriously. They have to
be. It's because you
spent so many nights
awake. That shit
kills neurons more than smoking,
drinking, and hard drugs
combined. You
probably have just
a handful left.”
“Damn...”
And she asked, “What's
47x6?”
“I don't know.”
“What did I ask you
two questions ago?”
“Shit, I can't remember.”
“Do you even care?”
“Nope. Not really.”
“Your brain's a graveyard
of neurons, boy.”
“Is it really that bad?”
“D'you still write?”
“Yeah.”
“Then it's really that
bad.
Take one of those
pills. Here.”
She grabbed one with her
fingers yellowed
from cigarette smoke
and handed it to me
Perhaps the fact that I
took it proves
I've not that many
brain cells left. I don't
know.
I don't know why
they're so
important in the first
place
Honestly,
at this point all I'm
worried about
is losing soul cells
Now that would
be a tragedy
But the wink of the drawn
dragon from
the napkin
proved I wasn't quite
there yet
Thank God
***
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THIS POEM READ IN MY VOICE: