[the primary narrator and protagonist Dylan Starr reflects on how Effexor has significantly reduced his depression and anxiety symptoms]
Cities with skyscrapers built of lava hardened doom
From and upon constantly erupting volcanoes—their fumes
And the acid rain monsoons
Now seem transformed into peaceful beach sand dunes
Ah, sand grains flying in the wind
Begin to rescind
Knots in my lower back and shoulders
Hyperbolic but they felt like boulders
Again— turned into sand or perhaps snow
Or streaming water or a flying misty rainbow
… to feel massaged by the Universe/ nature/ God—I don’t know
Maybe just a Buddhist Nirvana
Or Schopenhauerian Hindu Upanishad’s Maya
Semblance of harmony and evidence of life’s best aspects
evidence of some parrots, tortoises, and humans living into their hundreds.
Medicine can subdue and sometimes completely repair injuries, and cure illnesses.
I received a Bachelor’s degree and I’m working on a Masters
My love and I kept a grip on eachother’s hands through many natural disasters…
And though life seems to accelerate faster and faster
It’s a sense of self and social improvement that I’m after
Not wasting time focused on time itself/as such
There’s so much
Else to pay attention to—look at that!
The Democrats,
They won back
the House of Representatives
in the 2018 Midterm Elections
and put a check on Trump’s power—
sort of, at least for now
as for how sad I nonetheless feel today
as my great-great-grandfather has passed away,
in my imagination, he’s with my great-great grandmother, to stay…
My thoughts, they seem/feel less jumbled and chaotic
Quixotic and neurotic,
More focused on my desires
Attracting me, Pulling me forward like Maya’s smiles
And her aura
It’s as if she were the Goddess Flora…
I never cease to gawk
And as we leisurely walk,
Through Autumn’s kaleidoscope of flying leaves
and its non-abrasive, moderate air, stirring my daydreams:
a craving for boiled potato when it still steams
as its sits on spinach
that was just removed from the fridge
now a combination in my mouth
driving a 2019 Mercedes Benz driving down
Interstate 87 South
through the stunning Ramapo Mountains
gliding like light, like sound…
like the Earth itself as it rotates and revolves round and round
and I feel so lucky to be one of its parts
and I’m contemplating my Liberal Arts education
right now I feel like every day’s a holiday and vacation
but a thought and the accompanying feelings—all just a station
thank the mysterious creativity of the universe for my imagination
inspired by all the jewelry I collect and sell
and the beautiful museum and its hotel
next door
keeps me from getting bored
and even when I feel bothered indeed by misfortunes
and injustices
tempting me at times to say “fuck this”
I gaze at the fireworks and jewelry of life’s miracles
And feel so fucking spiritual
And Maya, my family and friends
They say they can detect
The anti-depressant and anti anxiety effects
Of my Effexor
Easing the texture of my nerves
I pray that as life goes this precious Effexor still works…