I Guess That Does It To You

Jake wants to stop his medication.
Nearly twenty times a day
He takes over fifty pills.
For Jake its too bothersome
To remember when to
Take these or swallow that.
If he should eat first
Or not eat that
And they are all different
Colours and sizes and
Some can't be taken
Till others have worn off.

So instead he takes his walker
Gripped in unsteady hands
That once held strong men,
Finds his path
With film coated eyes
That beheld diverse Adonises
And with frail legs
That journeyed the globe,
Jake enters the bar
And orders a beer.

"The cancers come back."
He tells me.

"Too bad" I reply

And then he says
"I still ain't taking
Those fucking pills."

I guess AIDS will do that to you.

(For Bob Saddler. May there be Coronation Street in Heaven)