OXYCONTIN

I come from a place that never learns, and never changes.

Here, the seeds do not sprout into trees, and the sun never truly rises.

Here, they worship Fear.

And fear rules everything around them.

The men at the temple say that all of history is a lie,

and all who exhort it are devils.

I catch my reflection – and I see the Devil.

I take a pill to calm my haunted mind;

I swallow a sword, my mind rewinds.

I see Fear in the corner of the room;

his face contorts but it never truly changes.

How terrifying.

How utterly terrifying."

— Poem by TG Villanueva